Pea,havefledthenest,probablydue
tothesmell.Still,PalmerhopesPea
willusethisburrowagain.(It’sthe
femaleNorthIslandbrownkiwithat
laystheeggs,butit’sthemalethatsits
onthemforthreemonths.)Athalfa
metredeepundersturdytreeroots,it’s
a goodnest.
O–hopeisoneofthecountry’slarg-
estremainingforestsofpo–hutuka-
wa, anevergreenonceusedforship-
buildingandcalledtheNewZealand
ChristmasbushinAustraliaforits
crimsonf lowers.Thereserveisalso
richinbirds,suchasthetu–i-, a dark
honeyeaterwithwhitethroattufts;the
melodiouskorimako(bellbird);and
thepiwakawaka,whichdeploysitstail
ina fanshapetochangedirections.
NewZealandersareproudoftheir
birds,buttheyespeciallylovethekiwi.
“Thechickislikea bigtennisball
withpouf,”saysPalmer.Blackde-
scribesit as“abundleofcutenesson
legs.”Thekiwiisthecountry’smost
famousemblem– evenhobbitscan’t
dethroneit.Butit’sintrouble.
ExtinctionratesforbirdsinNew
Zealandarehigh.Accordingtothe
DOC, 34 percentofendemicland
andfreshwaterbirdsandfivepercent
ofseabirdshavealreadybeenlost.
Today,morethana thirdofbirdspe-
ciesareconsideredthreatened– one
stepawayfromendangered.Among
them:thechicken-sizedNorthIsland
brownkiwi,themostcommonoffive
recognisedkiwispeciesandtheone
that lives nearest humans, mainly inS
heshouldhavefound
thehatchlingbynow.
With herrightarm
deepintheburrow,
Bridget Palmerhas
beengropingaround
fora fewminutesal-
ready.Hercolleague,
John Black, hiking
bootsdugintothehillsidetokeep
fromslidinginthemud,searchedthe
burrow,too,butcameupempty.The
pair,volunteerswiththeWhakata–ne
KiwiTrustonNewZealand’sNorth
Island,aretwoofonlysixpeoplein
theorganisationtrainedtohandlelive
kiwi.ButasPalmerisabouttodiscov-
eronthisovercastNovembermorn-
ing,there’snothingforthemhere.
ArangerwithNewZealand’sDe-
partmentofConservation(DOC),
44-year-oldPalmerpullsclumpsof
humidleavesoutofthenest,located
inO–hopeScenicReserve.She’slook-
ingforeggshells,a signthata bird
hashatched.Soon,shefindsa beak,
feathers.Yetthere’snocauseforjoy- Palmeriscradlinga chick’scorpse,
f lattenedina wadofleaves.
“Hatchdeath,”shemurmurs.
Palmer buries thechick. After
incubatingforabout 85 days,itbe-
cameexhausted,thenstuck,tryingto
chipitswayoutoftheegg,whichcan
takethreetofivedays.Thechicksuffo-
catedbeforebeingabletobreakfree.
Itssibling,Kikorangi,borntwoweeks
earlier,andtheirfather,equipped
witha transmitter and given the name
READER’S DIGEST(PREVIOUS SPREAD) COURTESY OFNGA- I TAHU TOURISM
94 April 2020