Watch: Stewart Island resident gets special surprise visit from kiwi

  • 26/08/2023

The kiwi is a national treasure - but few of us get to hear them in the wild.

But last night one Rakiura/Stewart Island resident got a special treat from a very noisy bird in their backyard.

The kiwi ran round their water tank, then put on a display that sounded like a creature out of Jurassic Park.

The locals think it was a male showing off for his female mate nearby - or maybe he'd heard the All Blacks result earlier on Saturday?

It's estimated there are about 20,000 tokoeka, or Stewart Island brown kiwi on the island - outnumbering humans.

And unlike the other five species of kiwi further north, the tokoeka is active during both day and night.

Watch the video above.