Kiwi hatching at Kiwi Encounter

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this chick pipping out of it's shell! Can you estimate how old this chick is?

Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua candling the eggs

Candling the egg

"Candling" means shining a bright light into a kiwi egg to light up whats inside. This tells if the egg is alive and how old it is.

Duncs setting up a datalogger

Dunc's went to university after school. He wears amazing long dreadlocks! He is the kiwi team leader.

Dunc's is setting up a datalogger not far from a kiwi burrow.

Can you spot Bruce?

What is a datalogger?

Dataloggers listen to kiwi transmitters and record kiwi movements. Why do you think kiwi workers need to know this?

Wash and weigh the rowi egg

Here is Amy. Amy will take care of our the rowi eggs. This is the incubator at Willowbank.

Can you guess how long it might take for a rowi egg to hatch?

Hey this rowi egg is heading to Willowbank!

Amy and Mat work at Willowbank. I was lucky to go with them from Franz Base to Willowbank in the car.

We carefully looked after the eggs.

Willowbank is a great place to see a kiwi. I saw two kiwi foraging for worms with its bill.

After a night at Franz Josef

The eggs had a night in the Franz incubators. Would they be kept warm or cold? Why?

After that the eggs went back in the carrier and into the car.

What a long journey
Can you remember where they travel to? from Franz they go to--------
then to-----------and last of all--------!

Abby is the expert on holding the eggs before they goes to Willowbank

Abby looks after the eggs while they are waiting in the incubator to go to Willowbank.

She washes and weighs the eggs.

Why do you think she is wearing gloves?

In the helicopter taking the eggs to Franz base

Here we are, hanging onto the egg carriers very carefully!

The helicopter was the safest way to get back to Franz Base. Why do you think that was?

This was the fantastic birds eye view from the helicopter down the Waiau River.

The first rowi egg to go to willowbank!

We reached in the burrow to get the egg out.





Then we put it in the chilli bin with a hot water bottle inside to keep it warm.

After that we walked to the helicopter carefully
to catch the helicopter back to Franz Base.

Liz kiwi worker

After Liz went to school she studied at Otago University.
She has worked with scientists on truffles (they are like mushrooms) and has been catching stoats to study their movements.

Now she works with the rowi team. 

Operation Nest Egg

An incubator at Willowbank

In Operation Nest Egg we collect kiwi eggs and take them to Willowbank in Christchurch to hatch in the incubator.

Then the chicks go to an island free of predators.
When they are 1 kg they can look after themselves and they are put back into the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary.

Kiwi display, kiwi tracks in the sand, skull of a kiwi

On holiday in Stewart Island I found kiwi tracks in the sand, magic! There are lots of kiwi there.

In Invercargill at the museum there was this beautiful display of kiwi and a this skull of a kiwi beak.

Can you draw what you think a kiwi print would look like on paper.

Tena korua Jo and Wendy

What were the important ideas Jo and Wendy talked about? What do you know about stoats?

They really enjoyed meeting you and said you have lovely manners!

The Kiwi Team at Franz Josef Waiau DOC

Rangers tag kiwi so they can trace their whereabouts in the Okarito Sanctuary.
Sometimes they attach radio transmitters so they can track kiwi to learn about how they live.


Here is the kiwi team I work with.

You will be meeting the kiwi team because they want to visit to show you about tracking kiwi.

Why is the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary special?

What have you learned about the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary?

What makes this place so special?

The next day I took out the paper and put in new ones. I changed the bait to rabbit meat to attract stoats.

After three nights the paper is taken out.

When we look at the paper what do you think we find?

Today we are rodent monitoring.

We can estimate the numbers of rats and stoats in an area by using tracking tunnels.

Rats and stoats love to run through these tunnels especially if there is food in them.

Here I am setting up the tracking tunnel.

The pink pad in the middle has ink and there is cardboard either end.

The rat walks through the tunnel and leaves it's footprints on the cardboard.

Peanut butter is spread on the entrance of the tunnel to attract the rats.

Hi there everyone in Room 1.
I enjoyed reading all your comments on the blog.

Since I last saw you I've been camping. I used all of the things that you found in my pack. The job I had to do when I went on this trip was rodent monitoring.

Kia ora Room 1 school students!









I loved coming to meet you. Do you remember all the things I had in my pack that I take into the bush? Now my new friend Bruce joins me in my work, look he's showing me which track to take!