Kiwi Bird

Physical Description

        The kiwi bird is a flightless bird, about the size of a chicken. It is known as a night time bird. That means that it sleeps during the day and is active at nighttime. It has a long beak that is one-third the length of its body, and its beak actually has nostrils at the end. The kiwi is the only bird with this feature. Another, feature of the kiwi is that it has no tail. It has thick brown hair like feathers. This bird has many physical features different from other bird on earth.

Hunting/ Feeding Characteristics

        The kiwi digs up and chows on worms. A kiwi is almost blind. It can see about six feet at night and around two feet during the day, so when it comes to hunting the kiwi is not well equipped. It used the nostrils on its beak to find its food and then plucks up the worms with its beak. When they are fighting with enemies, they use their legs which are strong enough to inflict damage by kicking.

Kiwi mainly eats:

• Insects
• Worms
• Occasionally small reptiles
• Fruit
• Occasionally small amphibians

Interesting Facts

        The kiwi bird is unusual in at least two different things. First, it is the only bird in the world that has its nostrils at the end of its beak. Second, the female kiwi has the largest egg. The kiwi bird lays large eggs that are half the weight of bird that laid the egg.

There are five species of kiwi:

• Brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli)
• Rowi (Apteryx rowi)
• Tokoeka (Apteryx australis)
• Great spotted kiwi or roroa (Apteryx haasti)
• Little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii)