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Stewart Island Tokoeka, 2010.
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zooboy28

Stewart Island Tokoeka, 2010.

  • Media owner zooboy28
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Stewart Island Tokoeka - Apteryx australis lawryi.

Photo taken May 2010 on an extremely isolated beach on Stewart Island, just south of New Zealand's Mainland - South Island.

Feeding on sand hoppers during the day - so much for kiwi being nocturnal! On Stewart Island kiwis are active throughout the day, and it has been suggested that this is because, unlike their northern relatives, they require more energy to survive the colder weather. Raising eggs as a family, rather than just by the male as in the North Island Brown Kiwi, is also thought to allow more time for individuals to forage.
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zooboy28
Stewart Island Tokoeka - Apteryx australis lawryi.

Photo taken May 2010 on an extremely isolated beach on Stewart Island, just south of New Zealand\'s Mainland - South Island.

Feeding on sand hoppers during the day - so much for kiwi being nocturnal! On Stewart Island kiwis are active throughout the day, and it has been suggested that this is because, unlike their northern relatives, they require more energy to survive the colder weather. Raising eggs as a family, rather than just by the male as in the North Island Brown Kiwi, is also thought to allow more time for individuals to forage.
 
Chlidonias
the most likely theory (perhaps) for why Stewart Island birds are active during daylight hours is because the sexes take turns incubating. Females incubate at night while the males forage, so the females have to do so during the day. That's what I've read at least, and certainly all the ones I've seen by day down there have been females (as is the one in your photo). I've never seen them on the beaches though, only in the forest, so have never got any photos that are even half-decent.
 
Hix
That's a great photo - I never envisaged kiwis on a beach!

Chlidonias - how do you sex a kiwi from a photo?
 
zooboy28
Thanks Hix

It was quite bizarre to see it on a beach, we were working on a dune for almost a week and saw kiwi most days. And heard them every night. They had no fear and we could get quite close. Definitely a trip highlight :D
 
Maguari
That's my favourite photo on here in ages. Beach kiwi. Love it.

Just goes to show what we all know - animals don't read the field guides. :D
 
Chlidonias
Hix said:
Chlidonias - how do you sex a kiwi from a photo?
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females are bulkier than males (which can't really be judged from a photo without a good scale of course so could only be subjective, and is also relative to the age of the individual) but more importantly they are sexually-dimorphic in beak length. Females have noticeably longer bills than males, and this can be easily seen in this photo. There is some overlap in bill length (females with relatively short bills and males with relatively long bills) but a kiwi with a very long bill such as this one is definitely female.
 

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