ITM Fishing Show's Matt Watson paid surprise visit by curious kiwi

Kiwi fishing personality Matt Watson was paid a surprise visit by a curious kiwi on Wednesday night – and he says it's far from the first time.

The ITM Fishing Show host took to social media to share a video of a local brown kiwi inviting itself onto his deck.

"Stop tapping on my windows dude!" he said as the flightless bird inspected his property.

Watson told 1News that while he is no bird expert, he has a theory on why kiwis keep stopping by.

"Around this time of year the moon is to the north, where the beach is. It reflects in our glass, and I think the male kiwis come up and try to fight [their reflections]," he said.

"I think males are quite territorial between this time and August, that's when they make their way here most often."

In the video, the kiwi can be seen seemingly scouring for insects before dashing into Watson's home, which he said happens more often than he'd care for.

Watson added that he tells people how close he gets to kiwis "all the time", but had not documented any meetings until now.

"If you leave the door open overnight they can make their way in and onto the deck... I had a mate stay over once and when he woke up with a kiwi on his bed, he told me 'Whoa! I thought you were joking!'

"You wanna be careful the next morning 'cause they s*** everywhere and it's not like little sparrow poo. It's as if someone dropped some Mr Whippy on the deck," he chuckled.

Watson eventually nudged the kiwi out from under his couch and out the door, where it scurried off back into the night.

Watson and wife Kaylene spent three years building their home in the Bay of Islands, which was documented in the Three lifestyle series Building The Kiwi Dream.

Though kiwis are regular visitors around their parts, Watson said the value of the encounters are not lost on him.

"I know that most New Zealanders will never see a kiwi, most especially in the wild," he said.

"I know how much it means to see one, let alone this often, so I'm incredibly grateful that I'm able to live here and of what I'm able to experience."