Banner Photo: Julia holding Mr JC
You could call Mr JC a zombie kiwi. His transmitter was reporting him dead, but he continued to wander about. This was a big worry, and lengthy previous attempts to find him had failed. But we tried again and eventually tracked him down and replaced his faulty transmitter.
The new transmitter being fitted
This year, ECOED volunteers have noticed unusually poor performance with transmitters, which are fitted to the legs of male kiwis to monitor their activity. This is normally first done when the male chick, reared in captivity, is ready for release to the wild. Only males are monitored, because they look after the eggs.
A new transmitter was fitted to Mr JC on 1 September after his nest was raided. We retrieved two eggs which were transferred to the Crombie Lockwood Kiwi Burrow, Wairakei for incubation. The hatched chick(s) will then be transferred to the Save the Kiwi facility for rearing until the birds grow large enough to be taken back to their homeland in the Kaweka Forest Park.
But Mr JC’s new transmitter started sending out signals indicating that he was dead, even though we could see he wasn’t. We had to fix this before he moved into a new breeding nest. Deb and David had tried to locate him but he kept running away from them, so Robyn and Julia took up the challenge.
They could have been in for a long day and lots of bush-bashing.
Mr and Mrs JC’s burrow
On a clear but cold spring morning, they headed into the KFP. Overnight there had been a dusting of snow on the Kaweka Range tops. After a 45-minute walk, Robyn honed in on Mr JC’s signal, and hey presto, they found him and his lady in a burrow under a fallen tree. After pulling out the lady, who was handed to Julia to look after, Robyn had to do some excavation to reach Mr JC.
Success! He is out, and it is only 10.30 am.
Robyn followed the kiwi handler protocol, removed the faulty transmitter and attached a new one. Weight, bill length, condition, location and details on the transmitter fitting were all recorded.
Then it was back into JC’s burrow where the lady was waiting. We are sorry to disturb them, but hope they continue to be a great breeding pair for ECOED.
The present: A very dead stoat
When Robyn and Julia got back to their vehicle, they found that a mate had left a present on the ute cover. They know who you are, and will repay the gift in time.
A successful day out, and mission accomplished (in double quick time).
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