Baby Weka

We had a New Zealand moment on Monday. When I walked outside our staff building, I heard this loud peeping sound– kind of like the sound Teddy (our family dog) makes when he gets stuck in the stairway, except multiply the volume by 1000. It was about that time I noticed two adult Wekas running around. I thought it was weird because I thought the peeping was coming from one of the adults, but none of them were opening its beak to vocalize (it was a sound that was difficult to localize). I thought it was amazing that it could get this kind of volume without opening its kisser. It was then that Sophie realized that the sound wasn't coming from one of the adults, but a chick that had gotten stuck in the drain on the side of our staff building. It was cold, wet, dirty, distressed, and peeping loudly on a slow, consistent schedule. Sophie picked it out and wrapped it in a towel to keep it warm.


She put it on the ground to see if it would go off with its parents, but they only came to peck at it dangerously as it continued to loudly peep. We were worried that now that it had our scent, it was being ostracized by its parents. We were due for another Milford Sound cruise so Sophie took the chick and put it in a box in her room to keep it warm, dry (it was raining btw), and safe from its peck-happy parents. When we came back from the cruise, the chick had regained it's strength, had escaped the box, and was running around her room pooping on the floor and her bed.

The end

P.S. She let it go. Fair thee well, young Weka. Fair thee well!