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Why did this kiwi cross the road?

Vicki Anderson

Life on Stewart Island/Rakiura is idyllic, says resident Michaela Joy.

But the mating cry of the Stewart Island brown kiwi has given locals sleepless nights in recent weeks.

‘‘Everywhere around us is bush. It’s all around our houses, and we can hear the kiwi calling to each other all the time,’’ Joy said.

‘‘There is a mated pair near my place. They call every night at 9.30pm, midnight, 6am. I’ve been talking to the neighbours about it for weeks.’’

The birds outnumber humans on the island, and there are thought to be about 20,000 of them.

‘‘What do they sound like? The male is a real clear one, but the female is a really weird screeching sound,’’ Joy said. ‘‘It sounds like someone gargling water.’’

Joy said she could usually ‘‘sleep through anything’’, but the noise had been keeping her and her neighbours awake.

‘‘There has been a lot of calling in the last couple of months. One kiwi sits on the egg, and calls out to the other one going out to get food, so they are in contact a lot,’’ she said.

While walking to work recently, Joy saw one of the kiwi crossing the road in front of her after a ‘‘big night of noise’’, she said. ‘‘It was about 6.45am . . . I have lived here for five years, but I haven’t seen one in the daytime like that.

‘‘It was raining, so it didn’t hear me. It was looking for bugs and food. It crossed the road, went to the other side, then came back over and got a metre away from me.

‘‘Eventually it realised I was there, but it didn’t get scared. It just kept walking down the road.

‘‘Even though I live here, it’s still pretty cool when you see something like that – it’s lucky there weren’t any cars around.’’

Joy works at the Stewart Island backpackers and said the coming summer was looking busy.

‘‘We are still getting so many Kiwis travelling from the rest of New Zealand. People are trying to get here before December 15 when Aucklanders start travelling again.’’

News

en-nz

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281642488456583

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