JR is our first Film Star

JR is a male kiwi who was released at the Whangarei Heads back in 2006. We have kept tabs on him since then by the radio transmitter he wears on his leg. He has grown from 1290g when he was released to around 2000g now and settled into an area at the southern end of Taurikura ridge overlooking Urquharts Bay.

He found a mate and they started breeding in 2011. He has had a successful nest each year since then – it is the kiwi dads that sit on the nest after mum’s big effort laying two large eggs. Like most of our kiwi at the Heads he loves nesting hidden in pampas bushes but this year he nested in a burrow in a small bank that we could easily see. After 80 days of nesting his transmitter data showed that he had hatched his first egg so Kane McElrea of the NRC set up a motion sensitive trial camera near the nest and……

JR’s chick ‘Blondie’ 2013

JR’s chick -2013

We got some great shots of his two chicks taking their first steps in the outside world. His first chick was named “Blondie” because of the distinctive patch of white feathers on his head. Check out the footage, see the chicks get their first meal of grubs from the ground – and don’t miss the ear scratch!

The other interesting thing the footage shows is the amount of time that the chicks’ mum spends checking the nest out without ever entering it – previously we thought the mums just left things to the dad.