Kiwi killed on Whangārei road sparks warning for motorists to take more care

This young male kiwi was killed by a car on Whangārei Heads Road early yesterday, sparking a call from kiwi campaigners for motorists to take more care on the road.

He survived wild stoats wanting to rip him apart, Northland's drought and other potential predators, but a young kiwi was no match for a vehicle that ran him over on Whangārei Heads Rd.

Todd Hamilton, from Backyard Kiwi, said a Heads resident saw the bird at the side of the road, about 100m past the turnoff to The Nook, on their way to work early yesterday.
Hamilton said it was the second kiwi killed on the road in a few weeks — after a female was killed nearby - on what was a "hot spot" for kiwi at night.

''It was pretty dark at the time and there was thick fog so it would have been hard to see him, but it's a real shame. There's heavy traffic on that road in the morning as people go to work and there are a lot of kiwi around,'' he said.

''There are over 900 kiwi in the Heads and some use this road as away of moving around. This fellow was only about 12 months old and was possibly on the road moving out of the area he was in and trying to find a territory for himself.''

Hamilton said the dead kiwi weighed about 1200g and a wild hatched chick that had grown to stoat-proof age thanks to local stoat control.

It was ironic that he was killed near to where the Backyard Kiwi "Kiwi Crossing" sign had been stolen from.

''I'm not saying he would not have been killed if the sign had still been there, but it helps remind people that there are kiwi on that road. This one is only 12 months old and kiwi are slow growing and also slow learners so he wasn't as road smart as some of the older ones,'' Hamilton said.

The Backyard Kiwi "Kiwi Crossing" sign that was stolen from Whangārei Heads Road recently, not far from where a young kiwi was killed yesterday.

''It's a real kiwi hot spot. A lot of birds use that road at night to get around, because it's easy to walk on. The silver lining for us with this (death) is that it means the birds are breeding well and expanding territories. It's also, I suppose, good that it was only a young bird. If he was a dad he'd have been looking after an egg and that would then be gone too (without the father to sit on it).''

He asked motorists to take extra care on Whangārei Heads Rd as they never knew just how common it was to see kiwi on the road at night.