WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The kiwi, New Zealand’s sacred national bird, vanished from the hills around Wellington more than a century ago. Now the capital’s residents are waging an improbable citizen campaign to return the endangered flightless birds to the city.“They are a part of who we are and our sense of belonging here,” said Paul Ward, founder of the Capital Kiwi Project, a charitable trust. “But they’ve been gone from these hills for well over a century and we decided as Wellingtonians that wasn’t right.”On a hill wreathed in mist above the dark sea that runs between New Zealand’s North and South Islands, Ward and others crossed rugged farmland late on Tuesday night, carrying seven crates in silence by dim red torchlight. Inside each one nestled a kiwi, including the 250th bird relocated to Wellington since the Capital Kiwi Project began.Birds receive a quiet welcome to new homesThe kiwi gives New Zealanders the name by which they’re often known. It’s a shy and odd-looking bird with underdeveloped wings and a whiskery face.AdvertisementAdvertisementSpiritually significant for many New Zealanders, the kiwi’s image appears everywhere, including on the tail of the country’s air force planes — curious for a bird with no tail which can’t fly.It’s thought that there were 12 million of the birds roaming the landscape before humans arrived in New Zealand. Today …
