Listeners across the world will have the rare chance to hear the haunting night calls of New Zealand’s iconic kiwi live from the forests of Te Pēwhairangi Bay of Islands next Sunday in a unique broadcast celebrating the voice of the native manu.
From 6pm to 8pm on May 17, the live audio experience will stream directly from a remote valley home to one of the country’s largest populations of North Island brown kiwi.
The project, Ngā Manu Huna, is led by Maniapoto artist, writer and academic Eugene Hansen, whose work focuses on capturing and sharing the often-unheard soundscapes of Aotearoa’s natural world.
Unlike edited wildlife recordings, the broadcast presents the raw calls of kiwi in real time, allowing listeners to experience te tioro a te kiwi as it naturally unfolds across the ngahere.
Hansen says many New Zealanders recognise the kiwi as a national symbol, yet very few have ever heard the bird calling in the wild.
The project aims to reconnect people with a living sound that has become increasingly rare in everyday life, particularly in urban environments where native bird populations are less visible and audible.
The broadcasts are also aligned with the maramataka and the Department of Conservation’s kiwi monitoring season, reflecting both scientific and Māori understandings of environmental rhythms and animal behaviour.
By combining indigenous knowledge systems with ecological monitoring, the project highlights deeper relationships between people, wildlife and seasonal cycles within te taiao.
The Bay of Islands location is regarded as one of the strongest remaining habitats for North Island brown kiwi, where the birds communicate across long distances through powerful nocturnal calls.
Researchers and conservationists say these vocal exchanges can reveal important information about population health, breeding activity and the overall condition of ecosystems.
Ngā Manu Huna is part of a growing movement using sound, storytelling and immersive experiences to strengthen conservation awareness and reconnect communities with the natural environment.
The live broadcast will be accessible globally, offering audiences an intimate window into one of Aotearoa’s most treasured and elusive native species.
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