Okarito brown kiwi

The Okarito brown kiwi (Apteryx rowi), Okarito kiwi or Rowi kiwi is a type of kiwi bird. It was discovered in 2003.^[3] It is found in a protected area of the Okarito forest on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.^[4] There are only about 600 Okarito brown kiwis.^[5][6]

Okarito kiwi
Adult Okarito kiwi
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Infraclass:	Palaeognathae
Order:	Apterygiformes
Family:	Apterygidae
Genus:	Apteryx
Species:	A. rowi
Binomial name
Apteryx rowi Tennyson et al. 2003[2]
Synonyms
Apteryx rowi Burbidge et al. 2003 nomen nudum Apteryx rowi Marsh 2003 nomen nudum

A rowi kiwi named Aroha released near Lake Gault in December 2018 travelled 12 km up into the mountains behind Fox Glacier, New Zealand and had to be rescued by an Alpine Cliff Rescue team at an altitude of 1250 metres.

Appearance

This bird has gray-brown feathers. It sometimes has white feathers on its face. Its legs, feet and claws are pale. It has small wings and does not fly. It has no tail. It has a long pale bill, or beak.^[6]

Habitat

Before humans came to New Zealand, there were Okarito brown kiwi all through the northern part of the South Island and the southern part of the North Island. However, in 1990, there were 160 rowi left in all New Zealand. In 2012, there were about 375.^[6]

These rowi live in Okarito, where they build nests and lay eggs themselves. Human beings sometimes take eggs and chicks to islands where they can grow up without stoats or other mammal predators eating them, but the kiwi do not go to those islands on their own. This is part of Operation Nest Egg.^[6]

Breeding

The kiwis make a nest in a hollow log, crack in a rock or space dug out of the ground. The male and female kiwi both sit on the egg. The female kiwi lays only one egg at a time, but sometimes she will lay one new egg just before the old one hatches.^[6]