Kiwi incubating smart eggs for science

We’re spying on this beautiful brown kiwi…for science!

In what could be a world-first, we’ve placed night-vision cameras inside one of the kiwi nest boxes at the Zoo. This footage shows in real time how kiwi incubate their eggs, and combined with other scientific data, will improve on current conservation knowledge.

Our curator of birds, Dr. Juan Cornejo, has been spearheading this research since 2023, to better understand the natural incubation parameters of kiwi eggs. To do so, he developed a clever piece of technology – a 3D-printed egg with sensors! This ‘smart egg’ replicates how natural eggs conduct heat, and the sensors record temperatures, humidity and the angles at which the eggs are turned in the nest.

These ‘smart eggs’ are then placed under nesting birds to capture up to date scientific data. Current artificial incubation practices don’t allow conservationists to successfully incubate kiwi eggs that are collected early on in their development. The information obtained in this study aims to help improve on these techniques and conservation efforts for kiwi.

The smart egg data reveals the pattern of heat inside the egg, and this shows us when the kiwi is sitting or leaves the nest to feed at night. What we were missing was the understanding of how the birds behave inside the nest. By combining this data with direct observations of the bird’s behaviours we are now able to get a full picture of what goes on inside a kiwi nest and understand how activities such as working on the nest or preening can affect the incubation parameters.

Night vision cameras (like those used in security) are perfect for the task as birds cannot see infra-red light, so this addition does not disturb them. While you can see this kiwi perfectly well, bear in mind that he is in complete darkness!

Due to the winding structure of the nest box, there is no light that permeates inside. So, how does this clever kiwi know where he is? Kiwi vision is poor, but they’ve adapted amazing sensory abilities with smell and touch. Long whiskers on his face and around the base of their beaks help them to feel around and navigate in the dark.

Another amazing finding is how the female kiwi contributes to egg incubation! There was anecdotal evidence that female North Island brown kiwi play a role in incubating eggs, but now we’ve been able to document it. In fact, there is not a lot of documentation on kiwi incubation behaviour which is why we’re carrying out this vital research. This new footage shows the female jostling the male off the egg so she can take her turn.

As well as two kiwi pairs at the Zoo (which are in forested aviaries outside of visitor areas), we are also collecting data from wild nests in collaboration with researchers from Massey University and Victoria University. This wild data helps us to validate what we are finding out at the Zoo – and we’re pleased to say, this approach is working.

Stay tuned for more updates in the future on this important research for kiwi!