A national symbol of New Zealand, the flightless kiwi is among the most unique birds in the world.

Evolving in the absence of most large predators, the kiwi fills a similar ecological niche as many land mammals elsewhere, a fact reflected by the kiwi’s anatomy. Like many mammals, their bones are filled with marrow. They rely on their sense of touch and smell. And their soft feathers feel very much like fur. Nevertheless, despite considerable conservation efforts, this animal is in danger of becoming extinct.

An Amazing Bird: 4 Kiwi Bird Facts!

• The kiwi bird first evolved some 30 million years ago, which makes it one of the oldest types of birds still living.
• The kiwi has a lower body temperature than any known bird.
• One of the more amazing facts is that the kiwi has a highly developed sense of smell. It is the only bird in the world with nostrils at the tip of the bill. If the nostrils become filled with dirt, then the kiwi can deliberately sneeze to remove the obstructions.
• The female kiwi bird is one of the few birds with a functioning pair of ovaries. Most birds only have a single ovary.

Where to Find the Kiwi

This is a forest-dwelling bird that prefers steep and wetlands surrounded by tall shrubs or threes. It was once common throughout mainland New Zealand, but many species have been relegated to the small outer islands.

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Kiwi Bird Nests

These birds do not construct nests at all. Instead, it digs burrows in the ground with its sharp claws.

Kiwi Scientific Name

The scientific name of the kiwi is Apteryx. This is derived from the Greek term meaning “without wing.” The suffix “a” means without and “pterux” means wing. There are five known species, all with the same general appearance and behavior, but they vary in subtle ways. The kiwi is an example of a ratite: a diverse and somewhat distantly related group of flightless birds that also includes emus, cassowary, and ostriches. However, the kiwi is the only living member of its order (scientific name Apterygiformes).

Kiwi: The Bird’s Size, Appearance & Behavior

These are unusual looking birds with a round body, a long, slender bill, strong feet, highly reduced wings with claws at the end, small whisker-like feathers around the face, and brown or gray plumage almost resembling fur. The largest species is the brown kiwi, which stands at 25 inches and weighs up to 11 pounds, or about the same size as a domesticated chicken. Males are slightly larger than females, but they are otherwise similar in appearance.

Although they do sometimes travel in the company of other members of the same species, the kiwi is a highly territorial bird that maintains a very tight grip on its land and does not tolerate trespassers easily. If another bird does not heed its warning sound to stay away, then it may resort to attacking with its feet. The bird communicates via a series of sounds such as shrieks, clicking noises, and ascending and descending whistles. During the day, the bird curls up in a ball and sleeps in its burrow. At night the bird pokes its head out and sniffs the air for predators. If the coast is clear, then it will come out and begin foraging for food.

Kiwi Diet

The bird spends the dusk to dawn period feeding. With its powerful scent, the kiwi finds prey and then uses the highly developed sensory pads on its bill to catch food.

What does the kiwi bird eat?

The bird consumes a diet of worms, grubs, berries, and seeds.

Kiwi: The Bird’s Predators, Threats, and Conservation Status

For millions of years, the kiwi faced very few threats in the wild. But the arrival of the first humans to the island centuries ago marked the beginning of the kiwi’s decline. This accelerated with the arrival of Europeans, who cut down vast swaths of forest habitat and introduced cats, weasels, stoats, and ferrets to the island. Since kiwis were poorly equipped to deal with the new mammalian threat, numbers began to fall rapidly. Today four of the five kiwi species are vulnerable to becoming extinct. Only the little spotted kiwi is near threatened.

What eats the kiwi bird?

Before the arrival of people, the kiwi was only preyed upon by the now extinct laughing owl. But once carnivorous mammals poured into the island, they fed on the vulnerable kiwi chicks and sometimes even the adults in large numbers.

Kiwi: The Bird’s Reproduction, Babies, and Lifespan

Every year, between March and June, the kiwis undergo a unique mating ritual. After calling out to each other, the pair then meets in the nesting burrow every three days, and while copulating, males emit a distinctive purring sound. The kiwi forms close breeding pairs that usually mate for life unless a more desirable partner happens to come along.

Among the most amazing facts is that the kiwi produces the largest eggs of any bird in relation to body size. Even though the kiwi is about the same size as a chicken, the eggs are about six times as large as a chicken’s egg. The sheer size means that the kiwi can only lay one egg at a time, but the female may still produce a second egg several weeks later before the first one has hatched. The male incubates the eggs by himself.

When the chicks emerge from the egg by kicking out the shell, they are fully independent and feathered. Since the parents play a minimal role in feeding the offspring, the chicks must survive their first 10 days of life by feeding on the yolk sac. The eggs are also anti-bacterial and anti-fungal to cope with the damp underground burrows. Although the birds are soon ready to forage on their own, some may choose to stay around their parents and help them raise the next generation of young.

These birds have a rough early life. Approximately 90% of wild kiwi will die, mostly from predator attacks, within the first six months of their life. When pests are absent from an area, the survival rates of young kiwis are considerably higher. Males reach sexual maturity quickly at around 14 to 18 months, while females take a relatively longer two to three years. If they survive adolescence, then the bird has a long lifespan of 50 years in the wild and about 30 years in captivity.

Kiwi: The Bird’s Population

Kiwi populations have fallen sharply since their height, and although conservationists have devoted significant resources to reviving numbers, they still remain in decline throughout most of New Zealand. One success story is the little spotted kiwi. It is estimated that this species fell to a low of only five individuals in the early 20th century. Since being relocated to the kiwi sanctuary on Kapiti Island, population numbers have since rebounded to more than 1,200 mature individuals. Other species have more than 10,000 mature individuals left in the wild, but their populations are falling by a slight amount every year.

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