The kiwi is New Zealand’s iconic national bird and an important part of our unique natural heritage. They are feisty, intelligent, and inquisitive birds which is why New Zealanders like to call themselves ‘Kiwis’.

Part of the ratite whānau

At the Otrohonga Kiwihouse, they house and hold over twenty brown kiwis on-site as part of a nationwide captive breeding program for brown kiwis. They are also a pre-release conditioning site for brown kiwis preparing to be released into the wild. They currently hold Northland, western and eastern provenance brown kiwi.

When their kiwi is younger, they will display them in specially designed nocturnal enclosures where the day and night cycles have been reversed.

Visitors to the park can see these young kiwis during the day carrying out their normal kiwi behaviour such as probing for insects and earthworms in the soil, bathing in the ponds, and digging burrows or climbing logs.

The enclosures have native plants, leaf litter, soil, and logs that host a wide range of invertebrates and fruits that make up the majority of the kiwi diet. We also offer kiwi a specially prepared artificial diet to supplement the live food which enables us to feed kiwi if they are in transit or for some reason needed to be cared for in another setting. This also helps keep kiwi in excellent body condition during breeding.

The breeding-age kiwi is in large off-display enclosures nearby, where they are free to raise their chicks. Once kiwi have been bred to capture their genetic material in the breeding program they are released into predator-controlled habitats to increase the number and genetic diversity of kiwi in the wild.

They have been conserving and breeding Kiwi since 1971 and were the first Kiwi House in New Zealand to display and breed kiwi and artificially incubate kiwi in captivity for release back to the wild. We have bred three species of kiwi on site; Brown Kiwi, Great Spotted Kiwi, and Little Spotted Kiwi. To date, we have successfully hatched over 160 kiwi chicks and released these into the wild. We are also involved in carrying out research that will assist kiwi survival in the wild and best practices in kiwi husbandry.

Kiwi diet

The kiwis they house and conserve have plenty of natural food sources inside their enclosures. They probe in the soil and leaf litter for insects, worms, spiders, and native berries. New leaf litter is brought into enclosures from forested areas each fortnight containing seasonal insects and berries that help to create variety in the kiwi diet. Logs filled with insect life are also brought in for the kiwi to rip into and explore.

Their favorite berries at present are Coprosma robusta berries which are high in caffeine – no wonder they are very active kiwis! We supplement the kiwi’s daily diet with an artificial diet fed out to all kiwi in captivity. It is made with minced beef (steak and ox heart), peas and corn, apples, pears and bananas, currants, a specific design of cat biscuits, wheatgerm, insect powder, CaCo3, corn, and canola oil, and a supplement called the ‘Kiwi PreMix’. Our kiwi certainly dine well!

The 5 kiwi species they house at Otrohonga Kiwihouse:

• Brown Kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) – These are found in the North Island of New Zealand and are isolated into different geographic regions called provenances; Northland, Coromandel, Eastern, and Western brown kiwi.
• Great Spotted Kiwi (roroa) (Apteryx haastii) – Found in the high country of the northwestern side of the South Island
• Little Spotted Kiwi (Apteryx owenii) – Found only on predator-free islands like Kapiti Island and in predator-free sanctuaries like Zealandia
• Rowi (Apteryx rowi) – Found in the Okarito area on the west coast of the South Island
• Tokoeka (Apteryx australis) – Found on Stewart Island, Fiordland, and the west coast of the South Island.

Quick facts

• Kiwi are related to Australia’s emus and cassowaries and belong to a group of flightless birds called Ratites.
• All 5 species of kiwi are endangered.
• Approximately 70,000 kiwis are left in the wild in New Zealand including offshore islands and predator-controlled areas.
• Kiwi is flightless, with powerful legs that make up a third of the bird’s weight.
• Kiwi has poor eyesight, but their long probing beak gives them an acute sense of smell & touch.
• Kiwis are the only bird to have nostrils at the end of the beak. They also have sensory pits at the tip of the beak, allowing them to feel the vibrations of prey moving underground.
• Kiwis have shaggy plumage with hair-like feathers and cat-like whiskers on the face and around the base of the beak. These super-sensitive whiskers have probably evolved to help them feel their way in the dark and sense the vibrations of prey.
• Kiwi are generally nocturnal forest dwellers. During the day they sleep in burrows, hollow logs, or under thick vegetation. Kiwis can sometimes be seen during the day if food is scarce or in times of drought.
• Kiwis have enormous eggs and one of the largest egg-to-body weight ratios of any bird. The egg weighs about 20% percent of the female’s body weight – that’s about six times as big as normal for a bird of its size.  (The ostrich egg-to-body weight ratio is 2%). The benefit of such a large egg is that the chick which weighs around 300g on hatching does not require assistance from the adults to feed.
• Females are larger than males with a slightly longer beak
• Adult kiwis often mate for life and are very territorial
• Kiwi males incubate the eggs for 70-85 days
• Chicks are fully feathered when they hatch.  They emerge from the burrow to feed after about 5 days (they are not fed by their parents)
• Juvenile male kiwi can reach sexual maturity at 18 months and females will lay their first eggs from 3-5 years old.
• Kiwi are long-lived depending on the species. Estimates of twenty-five to fifty years have been given, but the actual lifespan of kiwi is still not known. The oldest kiwi at the Otorohanga Kiwi House arrived as adults to found the captive brown kiwi breeding program in 1986 which makes them over 40 years old.

Birds at the Otorohanga Kiwi House

The Otorohanga Kiwi House & Native Bird Park is home to many native New Zealand birds – Kiwi, ducks & waterfowl, parrots, and more.

Learn more about these creatures and when you visit listen to the unique sounds that they make. The following information that I have gathered and sourced for you all to read further is as follows on the page that is shared with you all to read from their site:

• Kea
• Tui
• NZ Kingfisher
• Variable Oystercatcher
• NZ Pigeon (Kereru)
• Red-Crowned Kakariki
• Grey Teal
• Yellow-crowned Kakariki
• Antipodes Island Parakeet

• Brown Kiwi
• Great Spotted Kiwi
• Little Spotted Kiwi
• Brown Teal (Pateke)
• Campbell Island Teal
• Blue Duck (Whio)
• NZ Falcon (Karearea)
• North Island Weka
• North Island Kaka

Reptiles at the Otorohanga Kiwi House

They also display tuatara (survivors for 225 million years!) geckoes and skinks… Learn more about these creatures here!

• Green tree gecko

• Tuatara

  They also house some other natives for you to see you can find more information below about this