Diet of the Stewart-Island Brown Kiwi (Apteryx australis lawryi) at Scollays Flat, Southern Stewart-Island

The diet of the Stewart Island brown kiwi at Scollay's Hat, southern Stewart Island was determined by analysis of 146 faeces collected during 11 field-trips from September 1982 to October 1984. A variety of invertebrates and a small quantity of plant matter were represented in the faeces. The four invertebrate groups excluding Annelida, that contributed most soft tissue dry matter to the sample were Lepidoptera (36%), Coleoptera (21%), Arachnida (19%) and Hemiptera (10%). Circumstantial evidence suggests that the habit of the Stewart Island brown kiwi of foraging by day is partly a response to low invertebrate biomass in the island's nutrient-poor soils.