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Today on Kapiti Island Simone and I were lucky enough to see (and photograph) Apteryx owenii, the Little Spotted Kiwi—the rarest type (only about 1600 are left nationwide).

Kapiti Island lies 5km offshore from Paraparaumu, about 45 minutes north of Wellington. Permission to land on the island must be obtained in advance from the Department of Conservation (DOC), and is restricted to a maximum of 80 persons per day. Roughly 10 by 2 km in size, Kapiti was once the stronghold of Te Rauparaha (we've read about him) and served as a whaling base before being virtually cleared for farming. The recovering forest now provides a predator-free sanctuary for bird populations to increase unmolested. We saw our "Little Spot" at Tuteremoana, the highest point on the island (521 metres).

Click thumbnail to enlarge image

Little Spotted Kiwi, Kapiti Island

The national bird is a threatened species. Most New Zealanders probably have never seen a live kiwi, and if so it was likely in a kiwi house. Normally nocturnal, we never expected to see one during our tramp. A DOC ranger suggested our little fellow might be a bit stupid (we'd suggested insomniac) and didn't fancy his chances of escaping being "fluffed up" by an aggressive weka. Aside from the kiwi (call) and many weka, we also saw several other native species including tui (call), bellbirds, kaka (a parrot, call), kereru (a wood pigeon), kakariki (a parakeet), saddlebacks, and hihi.

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