Kiwis
Apteryx australis, the Kiwi, named for the males shrill cry of ‘KEE-we’, lives in the humid forests and swamps of New Zealand and Australia. They can also be found in open areas, like fields and meadows, though they prefer forests and swamps because food is easier to find. Kiwi’s range from 47 to 80 cm in length, up to 35 cm in height, and can weigh 3 to 9 lbs.
The Kiwi has a round body covered with brown-grey hair-like feathers. The beak is long and is slightly curved with nostrils near the tip. The beak is used to probe the dirt for food.
Kiwis eat worms, insects, snails and berries. Once the Kiwi has found its food, it picks it up on the end of it’s beak, and with quick, jerking motions, throws it to the back of its throat.
The egg of a Kiwi can weigh up to 1 lb., giving the Kiwi the record for the largest egg-to-body ratio in the bird kingdom. For example, a Kiwi the size of a chicken could lay an egg equal to the size of an ostrich egg!
The female Kiwi lays an egg at the end of a burrow that she has dug. The male incubates the egg for about 80 days. The chick then feeds of the yolk sack for about a week, after that, it searches for its own food. Kiwis mate for life.
Kiwis are believed to have evolved from larger birds, but when the Kiwi shrunk, the egg size did not go with it. The egg size stayed because it was advantageous for the Kiwis to have large offspring to start with.
Kiwis are flightless, with wings about 2 inches long, lacking flight feathers, and no tail. Yet the Kiwi survives. How? It can run fast on its small, short legs to avoid danger.
The Kiwis are nocturnal and nearly blind, seeing only about 6 feet at night, and 2 feet past the end of their beak in day. The beak and whisker around its base help the Kiwi find its way around at night. In the day it sleeps in its burrow.
An interesting fact about Kiwis is that they never drink a drop of water or bathe once in their entire life!
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