Latest kiwi chicks safe and sound

Motuara Island in the Marlborough Sounds is now home to five newborn Okarito kiwi chicks following a release on Friday.

Operation Nest Egg, sponsored by Bank of New Zealand, aims to save New Zealand's iconic bird by removing kiwi eggs from their native Okarito wildlife sanctuary on the West Coast and hatching them at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch.

The Okarito brown chicks are transferred to pest-free Motuara Island in the Marlborough Sounds, and are released back to their Okarito home when they reach 1.1 kilograms.

Five Department of Conservation workers helped with the release of the eight-week-old chicks on Friday.

The chicks, weighing about 500 grams each, joined 20 other kiwis that have been on the island since the start of the year.

At the same time, two 10-month-old kiwis were taken off the island to be returned to the Okarito wildlife sanctuary.

The kiwis are fitted with transmitters and aerials, and are checked every couple of months by workers.

Department of Conservation Sounds area ranger Bill Cash said the release was the last of six chick releases scheduled for the year.

He said the chicks would likely be taken off the island in the outer Queen Charlotte Sound in November or December this year.

"The birds are all doing well out on the island," he said.

"The kiwis put on weight very quickly out there, they're very healthy. The scientists can't believe how good they are when they come off the island."

The next release was planned for early next year.

There are only 300 Okarito kiwi in New Zealand, making them the most endangered kiwi species.

Chicks that grow in a predator-free environment have a greater chance of surviving. In the wild, only 5 per cent reach adulthood.

- The Marlborough Express