Over the next couple of weeks dozens of kiwi will be relocated from Hauraki Gulf's 'kiwi creche'.
The birds spent time on Rotoroa Island getting big and strong enough to be transferred to new homes in the wild. But first they've got be caught.
There's a flurry of activity as kiwi rangers join conservation dog Charlie and his handler on the trail of 70 hidden kiwi.
Charlie has sniffed a kiwi next to marshland but the flax bush is thick and it's all hands to the pump.
"By the time we got down there and got into position the bird was already up and alert and ready to run off and just as James got into position the bird bolted and I went for it, missed it and James managed to catch it, which was the plan right," kiwi ranger Will Kahu said.
A lucky break. On this predator-free island dubbed a creche for native kiwi, this is the 21st catch this week and like the others it is taken in a box to be checked over.
Her microchip shows she was called Impey for administrative reasons and translocated from Motutapu at the end of 2021 after the island suffered a stoat incursion.
Two chilling stats: the kiwi population's falling by 2 percent a year and six out of 10 kiwi in the wild get killed by stoats.
But the good news is when the birds weigh a kilo or so they're big enough to fend off stoats and rangers are confident they can be sent home.
In any case Motutapu is predator-free and that's where this kiwi will return. Job done.
"It still is special every time you handle a bird but for me I think being able to share it with other people, like seeing people's faces light up the first time they see a bird and stuff is like is really cool," Kahu said.
The rangers have just found a chick and it's midday. Normally by this stage there's no dew in the grass so it's really hard for dogs to pick up the scent. However, they've just found a little chick and she hopefully will go to Motutapu in just a few hours' time.
Now there are two birds to take on today's choppy boat ride. They're met by Billy Brown who chairs Ngai Tai ki Tamaki which has mana whenua over Motutapu.
Brown, who's training to be a handler, gets the privilege of putting the two kiwis back in burrows, a first for him.
"It's an absolute privilege and an honour to be here in the first instance but handling them, certainly making a bit of a bond or connection I guess just reminds you about how special they are," he said.
Special and thriving in the Hauraki Gulf at least.
