Otorohanga Kiwi House Otorohanga Kiwi House & Bird Park Review 2011

I visited the Otorohanga Kiwi House & Bird Park on the 22 April 2011, which was an overcast, and periodically drizzly, Good Friday. The park was reasonably quiet, with few visitors - most seemed to be New Zealanders on holiday rather than international visitors. It was not particularly cheap to get into, I think it cost $16 for students, which is the same as Auckland Zoo, and almost twice that of Hamilton Zoo, both of which are much larger attractions.

The park is small enough to do in an hour if you are in a hurry, or with someone else who is in a hurry, but spending more than three hours here would be a challenge for all but the most dedicated bird-watcher on their first trip to NZ. The park is laid out in a one way circuit, starting and finishing in the reception building which incorporates the nocturnal house.

On arrival, the first exhibit is the nocturnal house, which holds kiwi. This was the first Kiwi House built in NZ, and is quite similar to that at Auckland Zoo, although much less dark. They have two kiwi displays, but only one is open at a time. The one on the right held Great Spotted Kiwi (0.2, I think the only ones on display in the North Island) and the one on the left has North Island Brown Kiwi. When we got there (1.30 pm), the Great Spotted exhibit had just been closed, but one of the volunteers showed us that exhibit anyway, which was very nice of her. I think this exhibit is usually only open in the morning, so strongly recommend visiting then, as NI Browns are very common in NZ zoos. They also have Little Spotted Kiwi, I think several breeding pairs, but these are not on display, rather they are semi-wild in a nearby patch of native bush.

Exiting the nocturnal house are a series of average reptile exhibits, with Tuatara, Leopard Gecko, Otago Skink and Duvaucels Gecko. This leads to an area of birds-of-prey aviaries, holding Australasian Harrier, Morepork, European Little Owl and NZ Falcon. A couple of these aviaries that had previously held Australian barn owls and more NZ falcons were empty, and instead had a mix of Goldfinch, Spotted Dove and Brown Quail. These exhibits were quite tired looking mostly, with well-mossed wood, which made them look pretty depressing (the weather wouldn't have helped either).

Next was the open Wetland Exhibit, which held Paradise Shelducks, Grey Ducks, Pukeko and Banded Rail (possibly more that I can't remember). Adjacent to this was the main waterfowl pond, which had common NZ ducks, which I think were mostly wild. Nearby was a new NZ Falcon aviary (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/dead-nz-falcon-otorohanga-kiwi-house-215000/), which was very nice, large and airy. This was the newest enclosure in the park, and was much better than their old accommodation.

Next was a series of three overgrown smaller-sized aviaries, the first for Campbell Island Teal, the second for Brown Teal, and the third for Eastern Bar-tailed Godwits and Pied Stilt (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/eastern-bar-tailed-godwit-otorohanga-kiwi-215001/). One also held Sacred Kingfisher (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/sacred-kingfishers-otorohanga-kiwi-house-april-224771/). While not huge, and quite low, these exhibits were very densely planted, and perfectly suitable for their inhabitants. The Godwits are the only captive ones in NZ, and were rescued following permanent injury. Behind these was a large, open exhibit for Australian Shelduck and Spur-winged Plover/Masked Lapwing. Nearby is a pond with Paradise Duck, NZ Scaup and Pukeko, with a separate area for Eels. This was a pretty bad exhibit, very muddy, with hardly any vegetation, and fences in a state of disrepair.

The next aviary was split into two, with the front half apparently home to Blue Ducks. The back half, observed further round the circuit, had White-faced Heron, Grey Duck and South Island (I think) Oystercatcher. These were nice, if old-looking, aviaries. Next up was an open exhibit with Cape Barren Geese, and then a low aviary, which had previously been split into multiple sections for Black Stilt breeding, although this species is no longer at the park. It now holds Variable Oystercatcher, Sacred Kingfisher and Campbell Island Teal (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/variability-variable-oystercatchers-otorohanga-kiwi-house-215002/). The gecko exhibits are next, with small, densely-vegetated enclosures for Forest, Spotted, Goldstripe, Common, Auckland Green, Wellington Green, Northland Green and Jewelled Geckos. Some of these were in the reception building rather than here, but I cannot remember which. Typically they were mostly difficult to see.

Small aviaries for Kea and North Island Kaka were next, these were too small I think, and new aviaries for these parrots should be a priority for the park. They did have lots of enrichment toys/feeders though, but I also saw rats... These were followed by another Campbell Island Teal aviary, and an aviary converted for Falla's Skink. The skink exhibit was great, although it obviously had a lot of unused space, and there were several skinks visible until small children appeared.

The largest aviary in the park, the walk-through Barry Rowe Aviary, is a very nice, reasonably-sized (18m high, 45m across), octagonal forest aviary, holding North Island Brown Kiwi, NZ Wood Pigeon, Tui, Red-crowned Kakariki, Silvereyes, Brown Quail, White-faced Heron, Grey Teal, NZ Shoveller, NZ Scaup, Tuatara and Banded Kokopu. Unsurprisingly the kiwi, tuatara and kokopu weren't visible, but I think I saw everything else, especially the large flock (35+) of kakariki. After this aviary is a walk-through North Island Weka exhibit, and an aviary for NZ Wood Pigeons. Free-ranging North Island Weka, with chicks, were also seen throughout the park.

Overall, the park was looking pretty tired, and you certainly wouldn't be surprised that it was 40 years old. Better paths, fence and exhibit improvement, etc would really lift the place. Upgrades to the waterfowl ponds and new kea/kaka aviaries are also required. I definitely recommend a visit, especially if you are from everseas, as there is a good diversity of species here (especially of geckos), and you can tick off a number of common native species that aren't usually in NZ zoos (e.g. silvereye, oystercatcher) and a few genuine rarities (e.g. great spotted kiwi, godwits, Campbell Island teal). My only other visit would have been more than ten years ago, but I definitely remeber Kokako then, and maybe Saddlebacks, and they have also had Black Stilt in the past.

In addition to the park itself, across the road are a series of very large, if decrepid-looking aviaries, managed by the park and stocked with some of its birds, although we only saw a single NZ Wood Pigeon here (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/friendly-nz-pigeon-otorohanga-kiwi-house-215003/). In terms of size, these are probably only second to the Barry Rowe forest aviary, and are very well-vegetated. They likely hold a number of breeding birds (including possibly kiwi), although there is no signage here.

Sorry I wrote so much, hope you managed to get through it all .

 

Major Upgrades Ahead

Sounds good, hopefully the long-term plans include renovating most of the park's enclosures and paths too.

Major upgrade for Kiwi House | Stuff.co.nz

 

Update after Dec 2012 Visit

I visited the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Bird Park on another drizzly day, this time a Thursday in mid-December 2012. This time I was visiting solo, so could spend as much time as I needed visiting, although I was there for only an hour or so. This review will focus on differences from my previous visit 18 months ago:

-Kiwi House: I arrived at 1.30pm, which is the time when the Great Spotted Kiwi exhibit is closed, and the North Island Brown Kiwi exhibit opened. A talk and feeding of both species occurs at this time, which I was able to experience. I missed the introductory talk, but watched the keeper feeding and interacting with the Great Spotted Kiwi female (only one is displayed), which was cool. In an adjacent exhibit was a male Taranaki-born North Island Brown, who was also fed. The visitors then moved around to the main Brown Kiwi exhibit, where the pair was waking up and being fed. This was a very well done presentation, with plenty of opportunities to ask any questions. There were also a lot of international visitors present, which I hadn't seen any of on my previous visit.

-The raptor, owl and introduced bird aviaries, all relatively old and most in need of replacement, hadn’t changed much (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/little-owl-aviary-otorohanga-kiwi-house-303753/). The introduced bird aviary held Greenfinches and Redpolls, as well as the Goldfinches, Spotted Doves and Australian Brown Quail.

-The waterfowl ponds and walkthrough wetland were unchanged and still looking tired. In the wetland viewing shelter there is also a small freshwater life display, with two tanks holding invertebrates/fish, I can’t remember what exactly.

-The new Kakariki aviary (mentioned in the above news article) is being constructed just past the new Falcon aviary, and will be a walk-in/through. It will also hold NZ Wood Pigeons (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/new-kakariki-aviary-otorohanga-kiwi-house-303754/).

-The next row of aviaries featured a rather aggressive Campbell Island Teal among the unchanged residents. He tried to jump/fly at the glass when visitors were near. The following waterfowl exhibit had been renovated since my previous visit, and was now looking very nice. Fences had been replaced, the pond areas landscaped, new plantings made and mulch put down. Great improvement (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/renovated-wetland-exhibit-otorohanga-kiwi-house-303755/).

-The next few aviaries and paths hadn’t changed, although the gecko displays have been changed a bit (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/gecko-exhibit-otorohanga-kiwi-house-dec-303756/). Excellent new signs included the new scientific names of all species (following the 2011 taxonomy revision). Species displayed include: Taranaki Goldstripe, Common, and the Northland, Auckland & Wellington Green Geckos. The aviaries throughout this area are generally average (although most are excellent for the inhabitants, they just look rather dilapidated from the outside), but the Kea and North Island Kaka aviaries are far too small for their inhabitants and replacements for these should be prioritised. Nearby a previously empty aviary (or it may have been divided and been part of the Campbell Island Teal aviary) now held a couple of Bellbirds. Bellbirds are sweet little birds, but I have only very rarely seen them in the wild, and in zoos they are kept in mixed species aviaries, usually the big walk-throughs. This was the first time I have seen them housed separately, and it was great to get a good, close look at them (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/bellbird-otorohanga-kiwi-house-dec-2012-a-303757/).

-The large walk-through Barry Rowe Aviary was much as it was last year, looking old and in need of a refurb. There was a sign for Grey Warblers, which I spent ages for, but concluded that the LBJs I was seeing were just Silvereyes and Sparrows. I asked at the reception, and was told that they probably had put warblers in there, but that there weren’t any now. They were also missing from the ‘stock list’ (18 August) near the aviary entry. The most surprising thing I did see in here was a large Tuatara. Tuatara are sometimes kept in such aviaries, but are almost never seen, so it was neat to see this one (http://www.zoochat.com/1602/walkthrough-aviary-otorohanga-kiwi-house-dec-303758/).

The signage at the park had improved, every exhibit had a modern and effective sign for each species, and many also had further signage. Overall the park was looking a bit better than last year, like it had had a bit of a spruce-up. Hopefully this will continue with the completion of the other projects outlined in the article above.

 

Awesome! Will hopefully be able to check it out next time I'm in NZ, although I don't know when that will be.

It looks like the second nocturnal house has been built fairly close to the entrance, where the owl aviaries were before (also held a few introduced species). Thankfully, the owls (Little Owl and Morepork) have been relocated to other aviaries in the Park (one of them new), rather than moved inside.