• Prince Harry and Meghan look at kiwi chicks during their trip to the National Kiwi Hatchery at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua. Getty Images
    Prince Harry and Meghan look at kiwi chicks during their trip to the National Kiwi Hatchery at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua. Getty Images
  • Prince Harry and Meghan leave the Te Papaiouru Marae in Rotorua. AFP
    Prince Harry and Meghan leave the Te Papaiouru Marae in Rotorua. AFP
  • A formal powhiri welcoming ceremony for Prince Harry and Megha in Te Papaiouru, Rotorua. Reuters
    A formal powhiri welcoming ceremony for Prince Harry and Megha in Te Papaiouru, Rotorua. Reuters
  • Prince Harry and Meghan receive a traditional Mori Ceremonial Welcome at the Tamatekapua meeting house, at Te Papaiouru Marae in Rotorua. Getty Images
    Prince Harry and Meghan receive a traditional Mori Ceremonial Welcome at the Tamatekapua meeting house, at Te Papaiouru Marae in Rotorua. Getty Images
  • Prince Harry and Meghan depart the Tamatekapua meeting house on Te Papaiouru Marae in Rotorua. AFP
    Prince Harry and Meghan depart the Tamatekapua meeting house on Te Papaiouru Marae in Rotorua. AFP
  • Prince Harry speaks during a visit to Te Papaiouru Marae in Rotorua. Getty Images
    Prince Harry speaks during a visit to Te Papaiouru Marae in Rotorua. Getty Images
  • Prince Harry and Meghan watch a Powhiri during a visit Te Papaiouru Marae. Getty Images
    Prince Harry and Meghan watch a Powhiri during a visit Te Papaiouru Marae. Getty Images
  • Crowds at Rotorua town centre for the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan. Getty Images
    Crowds at Rotorua town centre for the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan. Getty Images
  • Prince Harry meets the public on a walkabout at Rotorua Government Gardens. Getty Images
    Prince Harry meets the public on a walkabout at Rotorua Government Gardens. Getty Images
  • Prince Harry and Meghan visit Redwoods Treewalk in Rotorua. Reuters
    Prince Harry and Meghan visit Redwoods Treewalk in Rotorua. Reuters

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle get the bird


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Prince Harry and wife Meghan examined the navel, nostrils and whiskers on New Zealand's flightless kiwi bird and got to name two tiny chicks on the final day of their 16-day tour of the South Pacific.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited a hatchery in Rotorua on Wednesday and learned about the breeding program for the threatened creatures, which are considered national icons.

They gave the three-day-old kiwi chicks indigenous Maori names - "Koha" meaning "gift" and "Tihei" meaning "sneeze," from the native saying "tihei mauri ora", meaning "the sneeze of life", or the right to speak.

The names were gender neutral because their sexes haven't yet been identified.

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The couple also visited a Maori meeting ground, or "marae", and strolled through a redwood forest as they finally enjoyed sunny weather after their stop in New Zealand had earlier been dampened with rain.

At the Te Papaiouru Marae, the couple attended a formal welcoming ceremony and luncheon and were each given Maori cloaks, or "korowai."

The pair arrived in New Zealand on Sunday after earlier visiting Australia, Fiji and Tonga. They have been greeted by hundreds of enthusiastic fans on their trip.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said this week there seems to be little appetite for changing New Zealand from a constitutional monarchy that recognises Britain's Queen Elizabeth II to a republic.

"I do not pick up from the New Zealand public that this is high on their agenda. That this is an issue that they see of such importance that we need to be debating it in the current environment for New Zealand," she said. "And I take my steer from them."