Southern Brown Kiwi

The Southern Brown Kiwi, widely known by its Maori name tokoeka, is one of New Zealand's flightless, ground-dwelling kiwi species. It has coarse, hair-like brown feathers streaked with grey and rufous, a tiny vestigial wing hidden beneath the plumage, no visible tail, and stout, powerful legs built for digging and running through dense undergrowth.

Its long, slender bill has nostrils at the very tip, an arrangement unique among birds, which it uses to sniff out invertebrates hidden underground. Like all kiwi, it is almost entirely nocturnal, sleeping by day in burrows, hollow logs, or dense vegetation, and its round, disproportionately large egg is one of the biggest relative to body size of any bird.

Key field marks

• Shaggy, hair-like brown-grey plumage, streaked with rufous
• Long, slightly downcurved pale bill with nostrils at the tip
• No visible tail; small vestigial wings hidden under body feathers
• Stout, sturdy legs relative to body size
• Whiskers (bristle-like feathers) around the base of the bill

Similar species

• North Island Brown Kiwi is similar but geographically separate (North Island only) and genetically distinct; the two do not overlap in range.
• Great Spotted Kiwi and Little Spotted Kiwi both show more contrastingly mottled grey plumage rather than the more uniform brown of the tokoeka.

Range

Found in Fiordland and Northwest Nelson/coastal South Island, and on Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand, in several genetically distinct populations sometimes treated as separate forms.

Habitat

Occupies native forest, subalpine scrub, tussock grassland, and even coastal dune systems on Stewart Island, tolerating a wider range of habitats than most kiwi species.

Migration

Non-migratory and flightless; individuals hold stable home ranges and territories defended by calling at night.

Behavior

Strictly nocturnal and solitary outside of breeding pairs, spending daylight hours hidden in a burrow or dense cover before emerging at dusk to forage by scent and touch.

Voice

Males give a shrill, ascending whistle and females a lower, harsher call, typically heard after dark, often as a duet between paired birds.

Feeding

Probes leaf litter and soil with its long bill to detect earthworms, beetle larvae, and other invertebrates by smell, one of the few birds with a well-developed sense of smell.

Nesting

Nests in a burrow, hollow log, or dense vegetation; the female lays one to two very large eggs, and in most populations the male carries out most or all of the incubation over an unusually long period of around 70-85 days.