Kiwi birds in South Island

[honeybadger]

I will be coming to South Island for 2 weeks on April and I'm interested to see Kiwi birds, if possible. I will be spending few days in Queenstown and Christchurch and saw that there are few places that offer Kiwi bird viewing:
Kiwi Park (Queenstown)
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve (Christchurch)
Orana Wildlife Park (Christchurch)

Any suggestions on where is the best place to see Kiwi birds out of those 3 places, or any comments about those places in general?

I’m assuming observing the bird in the wild is almost impossible to do, am I right?

 

[Chlidonias]

I will be coming to South Island for 2 weeks on April and I'm interested to see Kiwi birds, if possible. I will be spending few days in Queenstown and Christchurch and saw that there are few places that offer Kiwi bird viewing:
Kiwi Park (Queenstown)
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve (Christchurch)
Orana Wildlife Park (Christchurch)

Any suggestions on where is the best place to see Kiwi birds out of those 3 places, or any comments about those places in general?

I’m assuming observing the bird in the wild is almost impossible to do, am I right?

Any of the three is fine to see kiwi. I'd recommend Willowbank in general over the other two - but I'd also recommend going to all three anyway!

Orana is more about African animals than NZ, but they do have a fair native section including a couple of large walk-through aviaries (one for forest birds and one for Kea).

Kiwi Birdlife Park is expensive for what you get (there are only something like 15 aviaries there total).

Willowbank has a really good native area which includes Takahe, and several walk-through aviaries including one for Kea.

Regarding kiwi in the wild, if you are at the glaciers on the West Coast (at Franz Josef or Fox), there are kiwi tours run at Okarito where you have a very good chance of seeing wild kiwi.

 

[Matt_C]

I would add that if you have time to get to Stewart Island in the far south then you will be treated to amazing scenery, good opportunities for seeing kiwi in the wild and plenty of other native fauna. Invercargil on the way south also has excellent tuatara viewing.

Of the places you've listed Kiwi Birdlife Park despite the price is quite handy in Queenstown as it is near the luge and a bit of a tourist hub. As Chlidonias said if you've got 2 weeks doing all three shouldn't be a problem.

 

[honeybadger]

Thanks for the replies! On their website, Willowbank claims that they have 'no glass' and 100% kiwi viewing guarantee - does it mean that the other parks might have such issues, or it's just a marketing gimmick?

I'd recommend Willowbank in general over the other two

Any particular reasons why you put Willowbank as the top recommendations? If I'm going with non zoo goers, which one you will recommend over those 2 parks: Willowbank vs Orana?


I love to explore those places that both of you mentioned; unfortunately, I won't be going to the west coast or the south eastern parts of the island. I will surely consider the Kiwi Birdlife Park since I'll be spending some time in Queenstown and might squeeze some time to explore that park.

 

[DDcorvus]

Are there any other kiwi species on display than Northern Brown Kiwi?

 

[Chlidonias]

Any particular reasons why you put Willowbank as the top recommendations? If I'm going with non zoo goers, which one you will recommend over those 2 parks: Willowbank vs Orana?

It's mostly just a personal preference. I find it more interesting.

In terms of your companions, it depends to some extent on their interest and ages.

Orana focuses on "typical" African zoo animals such as lions, giraffes, rhinos, etc which you can see at Singapore Zoo, but the setting is very different to Singapore Zoo, being designed around large open fields with moat barriers rather than Singapore's jungle atmosphere.

Willowbank is sort of a combination of farm and zoo, where you can get closer to the animals, many of them can be fed (the farmyard area with heritage breeds is particularly good for animal interactions), and they focus more on smaller species.

On their website, Willowbank claims that they have 'no glass' and 100% kiwi viewing guarantee - does it mean that the other parks might have such issues, or it's just a marketing gimmick?

Willowbank has an open kiwi house where the only barrier is a low fence. Most kiwi houses are enclosed with glass fronts to protect the birds from noise. Having an open enclosure is worse for the birds (they are very sensitive to noise) but visitors like it.

Kiwi can be difficult to see in any enclosure (due to things like visitor noise) but if you wait a bit - especially wait until other visitors have left the house - you will generally be able to see them. Willowbank's "100% guarantee" is more of a marketing ploy. I tested them once years ago (just to see how it would work), and was told I would see the kiwi if I spent more time looking and that I could come back the next day to try again. Any zoo animal is 100% guaranteed if you wait long enough and keep coming back until you see it!

 

[Chlidonias]

Are there any other kiwi species on display than Northern Brown Kiwi?

There are Okarito Brown Kiwi at the West Coast Wildlife Centre at Franz Josef.

Willowbank did have an adult Great Spotted Kiwi in their kiwi house a couple of years ago but I don't know if it is still on display (I didn't see it last year).

During breeding season Willowbank and the West Coast Wildlife Centre have chicks of other species in their brood-rooms (from wild eggs, the chicks then being released back in the wild).

 

[WalkingAgnatha]

Oh that's neat, I'll be visiting the South Island at basically the same time (13th April and leave on the morning of the 25th).

Also do the southern zoos not have southern brown kiwis/tokoeka, and for that matter any zoos involved with Project Nest Egg for Haast's Tokoeka?

 

[Chlidonias]

Also do the southern zoos not have southern brown kiwis/tokoeka, and for that matter any zoos involved with Project Nest Egg for Haast's Tokoeka?

No zoo keeps Haast or Southern Brown Kiwi, but Franz Josef and Willowbank incubate Haast Kiwi eggs during the season.

 

[WalkingAgnatha]

Huh, did not know that, thought the kiwis would be similar to what they do for other species (eg. whio, north, south).

 

[Chlidonias]

Huh, did not know that, thought the kiwis would be similar to what they do for other species (eg. whio, north, south).

Captive kiwi are more for advocacy than anything, so North Island Browns are what are kept for display. Most of the actual conservation for all the species (including North Island Browns) is done in the wild and via Operation Nest Egg.

 

[honeybadger]

It's mostly just a personal preference. I find it more interesting.

In terms of your companions, it depends to some extent on their interest and ages.

Orana focuses on "typical" African zoo animals such as lions, giraffes, rhinos, etc which you can see at Singapore Zoo, but the setting is very different to Singapore Zoo, being designed around large open fields with moat barriers rather than Singapore's jungle atmosphere.

Willowbank is sort of a combination of farm and zoo, where you can get closer to the animals, many of them can be fed (the farmyard area with heritage breeds is particularly good for animal interactions), and they focus more on smaller species.



Willowbank has an open kiwi house where the only barrier is a low fence. Most kiwi houses are enclosed with glass fronts to protect the birds from noise. Having an open enclosure is worse for the birds (they are very sensitive to noise) but visitors like it.

Kiwi can be difficult to see in any enclosure (due to things like visitor noise) but if you wait a bit - especially wait until other visitors have left the house - you will generally be able to see them. Willowbank's "100% guarantee" is more of a marketing ploy. I tested them once years ago (just to see how it would work), and was told I would see the kiwi if I spent more time looking and that I could come back the next day to try again. Any zoo animal is 100% guaranteed if you wait long enough and keep coming back until you see it!

Thanks for the thorough explanation!! I guess I will go to the Kiwi bird park in Queenstown and keep the options open for Willowbank / Orana - depending on the group preference once we've reached Christchurch.