New footage has revealed how diligent dad kiwi are when raising their chicks.
Taken by private landowners in the Far North, it shows male kiwi don't shirk their duties when it comes to parenthood.
"It's been invaluable for us to learn and hopefully other people can hook into that and gain the knowledge as well," says Eion Harwood of Russell Nature Walks.
Mr Harwood and Lisette Collins run nature walks on their 10 hectares of intensively pest-controlled land at Russell.
When they discovered two kiwi eggs in a nesting box they'd built, they installed a camera.
Not only did it show two-day-old Kiri coming into the world, but how Dad stuck around for 35 days looking after his energetic chick.
Previously it was thought the new chick was on its own after six or seven days.
"I don't know if this is usual or a one-off occurrence, but it has given us a new and unique insight into what actually happens after hatch," says Michelle Impey of Kiwis for Kiwis.
But after a month of parental care, the chick is ready to go it alone.
It's what happens after the kiwi chicks leave the nest that is crucial. In an intensively pest-controlled area, their survival is 50 or 60 percent. But in an area where pests like stoats and cats roam free, that survival rate drops to just 5 percent.
Now that it's holiday season, there's an added danger – people bringing their family pet. Dogs have become the biggest kiwi killers in Northland.
"It takes only a split second to grab a kiwi, give it a shake and that's it," says Ms Impey. "The kiwi could be dead."
Nationally kiwi numbers are still in decline, but in Northland numbers are on the rise.
Mr Harwood and Ms Collins believe eight kiwis call their land home, despite it being small and relatively close to town.
If you were wondering what happened to Kiri, the chick, he or she hasn't been seen for ages.
"You worry about it 'cause you got this connection with the chick," says Mr Harwood. "You watch it every day on your computer and see it grow and getting bigger and braver, and then it's gone."
But his parents are around and active. Both are back at the nest, and we know what happened last time.
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