Kiwi
is a Maori word so we don't say 'kiwis' - just 'kiwi'.
Kiwi
can live to be 40 years old.
Scientists think there are about
75,000 kiwi left in New Zealand altogether. How many kiwi do
you think lived in New Zealand before people arrived? 100,000?
500,000? 1 million? More?
Click the kiwi on the left to find out.
They
have super-sensitive whiskers ontheir forheads and around the
base of the beak. They use their whiskers to feel things in the
dark.
They
have tiny wings. They didn't need to fly because there were no
animals to hunt them. Then people came to New Zealand and brought
hunting animals with them.
Kiwi
have long beaks which they push into soft ground. If you see
where kiwi have been searching for food there will be holes in
the ground - they look as if someone has made the holes with
a screwdriver.
Where
do you have your nostrils? Kiwi have them at the tips of their
beaks for smelling worms and spiders in the ground.
A female
kiwi has a huge egg for it's size. It stretches its stomach so
much that females stand in creeks to make themselves more comfortable.
Kiwi
can see really well in the dark.
They
have special feathers - they are no good for flying but or swimming
but they are fluffy and keep the kiwi warm in winter and cool
in summer.
Kiwi
have very strong legs for running, kicking and burrowing. They
also have very sharp claws which they use to protect themselves.
Kiwi
are found nowhere in the world except New Zealand.
Kiwi are the only
bird in the world with nostrils at the tip of the beak - all
other birds bave their nostril near the base of the beak.
Long ago there
were creatures that hunted kiwi - giant birds! Not moa, but giant
eagles would attack kiwi from the air. Scientists think this
may be one reason that kiwi became nocturnal (move around at
night).
Although they look
clumsy, kiwi can run faster than a person.
Female kiwi are
usually larger than the male and boss them around.
Sometimes the male
kiwi (not the female) sits on the egg. For 80
days! That's a long time to be sitting on eggs! (80
days = 11 and a bit weeks = 2 months and most of the next one!)
Kiwi need a lot of land and
they are 'territorial' - this means that they chase away any
other birds in their area. One bird (or pair) may have an area
equal to about 60 football fields, and they may have 50 different
burrows in this area.
The numbers of
kiwi are halving every ten years. So, if there were 5000 birds
alive now, how many would there be in 2011? About 2500. In 2021?
About 1250. In 2031? About 625. In 2041? About 312....
