Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre films kiwi patient snacking on worms

A North Island brown kiwi filmed snacking on worms is making a good recovery after she was hit by a car.

Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre got the call about 11pm that a kiwi had been injured on the road near Whangārei Heads School, close to the foot of Mt Manaia.

Conservation icon Robert Webb, who founded the centre alongside wife Robyn, said the 2.7kg kiwi appeared healthy but couldn’t stand when she first arrived.

“She was very lethargic, I thought she’d be dead by the next morning,” he said.

But she proved to be a fighter.

Webb said vets couldn’t find any internal or external damage, so she had likely ended up with nerve damage.

When Webb noticed she was looking for food the next day, he offered her a kiwi delicacy – fresh worms.

“I thought, ‘Hell, she’s after them!’” he said.

She then started to show more strength over the next few days, standing up against her cage.

So, the team filmed her propped against the wall, tucking into the snack, with the occasional helping hand from Webb.

When she comes right, the kiwi will be released to the care of certified handler Todd Hamilton from Backyard Kiwi, who will place her back into the wild.

Webb estimated her to be about 5 years old and would likely have already laid eggs in previous years.

He wanted to get her back out to Whangārei Heads as soon as possible so that she could start breeding again.

The Whangārei Heads area is known for kiwi sightings, with signs along some of the main roads to warn people of their presence.

In June, two kiwi deaths in the space of two days in the area were hailed as a sign of a healthy kiwi population.

Both birds were wild-hatched, just like the current visitor at the Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre.

Last year’s estimated kiwi population at Whangārei Heads alone was 1185 – a vast jump compared with a mere 80 in 2001.

Webb encouraged people to be wary of the birds.

“A lot of people forget that kiwi will feed during the day as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Webb said the centre would continue to care for the kiwi until she was ready for release.

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.