The one-legged kiwi who has been visiting schools for 20 years

A gin fall put an end to Sparky the Kiwi’s chance at a normal life, but the bird has enchanted hundreds of schoolchildren over the past 20 years as a traveling ambassador for the country’s icon.

Sparky has only one leg but flies all over the country, and on Wednesday he was a VIP visitor helping Inglewood Primary School students learn about kiwis and the work done to care for them.

The bird had a leg amputated after it was found trapped in a possum and lives at the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Center.

Founder Robert Webb has looked after him since he was brought to the center when he was about two months old, he said.

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Sparky, who turns 20 at Christmas, is used to being awake during the day and used to flying and meeting curious children.

He travels in an animal cage and gets his own seat on flights next to Webb, who sometimes allows him to search grassy areas for worms while waiting at airports.

Sparky can eat between 200 and 300 worms a day, and he wasted no time showing off his worm-finding technique for the Inglewood students, then settled down quietly in Webb’s arms as the kids passed by to put on his feathers. To hit.

Lusiana Nakuta, 8, said the kiwi feathers felt a little weird, but soft to the touch.

“I was surprised he didn’t have another leg, but that’s okay.”

“He is special the way he is,” says Khalessi Schoenmaekers (8).

Ella Hill, 8, said she was surprised the kiwi’s feathers weren’t softer.

“It felt a little hard, but I liked it,” she said.

Malek Ferguson (9) loves birds and has two rainbow lorikeets as pets, so he was delighted to meet Sparky.

“I’ve seen one before, but not that close.”

Webb said helping kids learn about kiwi was a good role for birds like Sparky who had to live in captivity.

“He’s our national icon, we call ourselves kiwis, and we should all know what a kiwi feels and looks like,” he said.

“I’d love to see this happen all over New Zealand. Anywhere there’s a zoo they should be able to have a kiwi.”

Sparky’s visit was organized by the Eastern Taranaki Environment Trust, which protects kiwis with predator control over 14,000 acres in remote land east of Inglewood.

It was sponsored by Greymouth Petroleum.

The trust usually arranges a visit from Sparky every year, but Covid restrictions have prevented him from coming for the past two years, said Rebecca Somerfield, ETET general manager.

The kids also learned about kiwi aversion training for dogs, catching predators and other work done to protect the birds in Taranaki.

“A lot of these kids will help their parents with falls, it’s about doing their part, connecting with nature and conservation, and this [meeting Sparky] is more fun than taking dead rats out of traps.”