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Kiwi (
Apteryx spp.) are the most vocal of the ratites. Of the 5 Apteryx species only 2 have previously been subject to detailed vocal analysis: the North Island brown kiwi (
A. mantelli) and the little spotted kiwi (
A. owenii). This paper describes the vocalisations of the great spotted kiwi (
A. haastii), the largest of the
Apteryx species. Acoustic recorders were installed near the breeding den sites of 7 great spotted kiwi pairs residing in Hawdon Valley, Canterbury between November 2012 and March 2013. A total of 133 whistle vocalisations from 10 individuals were subject to detailed temporal and spectral analysis. Male and female syllables were found to be sexually dimorphic; syllables in male calls tended to be longer and more highly pitched than their female counterparts. Despite this dimorphism, patterns of intra-call variation were consistent between the sexes. It appears that intra-call variation is a trait which varies markedly within the
Apteryx genus.