Kiwi bird. Characteristics, lifestyle and interesting facts. Kiwi is a bird from New Zealand that does not fly. Description and photo of the kiwi bird

Detachment - kiwifruit

Family -

Genus/Species - Apteryx australis. Southern kiwi or common kiwi

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Length: up to 70 cm, females are larger than males.

Height: 20-55 cm.

Weight: 3-3.5 kg; females are about 20% heavier.

BREEDING

Puberty: probably not earlier than 2 years.

Mating period: July-February.

Number of eggs: 1, rarely - 2.

Incubation: 42-50 days.

LIFESTYLE

Habits: kiwis (see photo of the bird) keep in pairs on their site; active at night.

Food: insects, worms, fruits, sometimes amphibians and reptiles.

RELATED SPECIES

There are two more species that live only in New Zealand.

The kiwi is New Zealand's most famous bird. He leads a secretive life. During the day, the kiwi sleeps in a well-camouflaged shelter, and comes out to feed only at night. Thanks to its sensitive sense of smell and vibrissae, it can find food even in complete darkness.

BREEDING

Before the beginning of the nesting period, kiwis pursue each other during mating battles with loud cries. After mating, the female lays 1 egg (very rarely 2), the mass of which is about 500 g (which is equal to one quarter or one fifth of the weight of the female herself). The eggshell is very thick and white. The female lays her eggs among dense vegetation, in a recess under the roots of trees. A rotten tree trunk can also be a place for it.

The male common kiwi alone incubates the egg for 42-50 days. The hatched chick has eyes and already has plumage. The cub sits in the nest for the first time and does not feed at all for about six days.

KIWI AND MAN

Kiwi has always been of great importance to New Zealanders. The Maori natives caught it for its meat, and used the feathers as talismans.

Kiwi is depicted on the New Zealand coat of arms, and the locals jokingly call themselves "kiwi". The main reason for the decline in the number of kiwis were animals that were brought to the islands of New Zealand by settlers. These are mainly ferrets, dogs and cats. The number of kiwis is also declining due to uprooting of forests, which causes a decrease in the range of these unusual birds.

LIFESTYLE

The unusual lifestyle of the kiwi, as well as the structure and shape of its body, could only have been formed in the desert regions of the islands of New Zealand. Anywhere else, a bird this big that doesn't fly would have no chance of survival. This small bird would be easy prey for any predator.

Before the appearance of settlers who brought their pets to the islands, New Zealand was not inhabited, and the kiwi had no natural enemies. Studies of the habitats and ways of searching for food of part of the New Zealand birds indicate that at first there were no representatives of higher mammals on these islands, for the predatory species of which the kiwi is the most attractive: it has lost the ability to fly, and comes out hunting at night.

The habitat of the common kiwi is the jungle and bush bush. On the North Island, after clearing large areas of forest, kiwi settled in coniferous forests and fields. These birds create permanent pairs. They communicate with each other with loud calls and whistles.

WHAT DOES IT FEED

The beak of a kiwi is long, thin, the nostrils open at its very top. The bird has highly developed olfactory cavities. At the base of the beak there are vibrissae - very sensitive bristles. With their help, the bird finds food and recognizes representatives of its own species. The kiwi also has a well-developed sense of hearing and taste, which helps it search for food at night. Its diet includes insects, worms, berries and fruits, and sometimes small reptiles. Kiwi often searches for prey in moist soil with a long beak.

• The kiwi bird has good eyesight. On his short and widely spaced legs, he runs rather clumsily, waddling from side to side.
• Nobody believed the travelers who described the kiwi. Only in 1813 was the skin of this bird brought to Europe.
• Sensitive vibrissae at the base of the beak help kiwi find food even at night, in total darkness.
• The female takes so much energy to lay eggs, and the male to sit them, that during the nesting period these birds lose up to 75% of their mass.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF KIWI. DESCRIPTION

Plumage: greyish-brown, hair-like. Wings are not suitable for flight.

Eggs: in a nest dug in the ground and lined with leaves, the female lays 1, occasionally 2, white eggs weighing about 500 g. The male incubates the eggs for 42-50 days.

Vibrissae: sensitive bristles that are located at the base of the beak help to find food in the dark.

Legs: short and strong, with sharp claws. With them, the bird digs out food and defends itself.

Beak: long, thin with nostrils that open at the very top of the beak. The olfactory cavities are strongly developed.

Day cover: the entrance to it is hidden under a tree or in the bushes, the bird sleeps here until dark.

- The area where kiwi lives

WHERE KIWI LIVES

Kiwi lives in New Zealand. These birds are common on both islands of New Zealand and on Stewart Island.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION

The number of all three types of kiwi is constantly declining. This is due to a decrease in their distribution area. Also, cats, dogs and weasels influence the number of kiwis. The kiwi bird is protected by law and is a symbol of New Zealand.

Kiwi. Video (00:02:00)

The best video with a kiwi bird. Video (00:00:54)

Last night the worst drought in 20+ years here on Purerua Peninsula was broken with a 36mm rainfall. This afternoon, one of our local kiwis came out in broad daylight. We think it had been getting hungry because the ground was too hard and dry to penetrate during the drought, but with the softer soil today, the bird came out to catch up on feeding.
Note the very unusual white head and underside. Locally, this one is named "Chalky".

Rare white kiwi. Video (00:01:01)

A rare white kiwi chick has been born - the first to be hatched in captivity. just beautiful :)

Funny animals - kiwi chick. Video (00:02:49)

16 day old baby Kiwi feeding. Isn "t this the cutest animal in the world?. What" s your cutest animal?. Kiwi have already been named the cutest bird in the world.

Kiwi chick hatches at Auckland Zoo. Video (00:02:36)

Michelle Whybrow, one of our bird zookeepers, filmed our latest kiwi chick hatch - that's number two for the BNZ Operation Nest Egg season!

The kiwi bird forms a genus in the family of the ratites of the same name. There are 5 species in the genus. They live in New Zealand and are endemic. At the same time, 3 species live on the North Island, and 2 species have chosen the South Island for themselves. The habitat includes subtropical and temperate forests. Currently, the area of ​​forests is declining, which negatively affects the population. But in nature reserves and national parks, birds feel safe.

Flightless birds, in size correspond to domestic chicken. Females are somewhat larger than males. The body length is 45-54 cm. The weight varies from 2.8 to 3.5 kg. Tails are absent, and the wings reach a length of 5 cm and are almost indistinguishable among the soft plumage. It has a grayish-brown color and consists of long soft feathers that look and feel like fur.

The skin is tough, the legs are strong, four-toed. The fingers end in sharp claws. The eyes are small and vision is poor. But well developed hearing and sense of smell. The beak is long and slightly curved. In males, it reaches a length of 10 cm, in females 12 cm. The nostrils are located at the end of the beak. At the base of the beak are bristles. They perform the functions of touch. Kiwi feathers emit an odor that matches the smell of mushrooms.

Reproduction and lifespan

Pairs are monogamous and form for life. Birds breed throughout the year, but the female lays only 1 egg, very rarely 2 eggs. The egg is large and weighs about 450 g. Its color is white or greenish, depending on the species. The nest is made in a burrow. The male is incubating the eggs. The incubation period is 75 days. The chick is born already with feathers. His parents immediately leave him and do not care at all. Therefore, the chick leaves the nest on its own and begins to forage for food.

Mortality among broods is very high. Up to 90% of chicks die. In males, puberty occurs at the age of one and a half years, in females at 3-5 years. In the wild, the kiwi bird lives for 20 years. In captivity, life expectancy is 30 years, and some individuals live up to 40 years.

Behavior and nutrition

These birds are active at night. Outside the breeding season, they lead a solitary lifestyle. Only when they move to other areas, they unite in groups of 6-12 individuals. Eating at night is beneficial as it reduces competition from other forest dwellers. In addition, the darkness of the night protects from predators. During the day, the birds rest in burrows they dig themselves. Sometimes, instead of holes, they use free spaces between the roots of trees, as well as hollows located near the ground.

Representatives of the genus are territorial. This is especially true during the breeding season. They aggressively defend their territory from intruders. The diet consists of both animal and plant foods. These are worms, insects, crayfish, amphibians, eels, and also fruits. Kiwi birds use their long beaks to search for prey in the ground. The caught victim is killed on the ground or on stones, and only after that they are eaten. After hunting, cone-shaped holes often remain in the ground.

These birds lead a hidden lifestyle, so it is difficult to meet them in the wild. This population is considered vulnerable mainly due to cats and dogs introduced to the islands that prey on these unique birds. Currently, there are no more than 27 thousand adults. The kiwi bird is the national bird of New Zealand. She is depicted on the national currency, sportswear, road signs, mascots.

Kiwi live only in New Zealand, preferring damp and dense forests, shrubs. Its length is about 55 cm, weight 1.5 - 4 kg. The head is small, the neck is short, and the body is shaped like a pear. Females are somewhat larger than males. Legs four-fingered strong, low; each finger has a sharp claw.

She has no tail, wings are only 5 cm long, they are not visible at all. Now it is clear that the kiwi cannot fly. But there is a long beak (its length is 90 - 120 mm), the nostrils are located at its end, and sensitive long hairs (vibrissae) grow at the base, on which in most cases it relies.

The bird has a very well developed sense of touch, poor eyesight, and small eyes confirm this fact. The rumor is good. Soft fluffy plumage is more like animal hair. The color of hairy kiwi feathers can be gray-brown, or brown.

Leads a secretive life. They are shy and very cautious. During the day they hide in their shelters, these can be holes in the soil, or they can hide in the roots of trees, or low in a hollow. Each individual has its own territory, on which it arranges several "houses", using them as needed. Each of its shelters is perfectly masked by branches, abundant vegetation, so it is almost impossible to find a bird.

They feed at dusk and at night. They fussily run on the wet ground, waddling from side to side, seem clumsy. They catch various worms and insects from the soft soil with their beak. The organs of smell and touch help to find food. They eat berries and fruits. The female and the male are talking quietly to each other: "ki-wi". Hence the name of the bird.

The mating season starts in June and lasts until March. Many created couples remain for life, but there are also couples who will stay together for 2-3 years. The female lays one egg in the nest, but what! The weight of the white treasure is 450 grams, which, by the way, is 15% of its own weight. Very rarely, the female can lay another egg after a few days. Now the focus is on dad. It is he who will incubate future offspring for 80 days. Sometimes, for a very short time, the female will replace him so that the male eats. A chick is born, similar to its parents, only smaller. His body is covered with long feathers, he is weak. It sits in the nest for about a week, feeding on the remnants of the yolk. During the day, the male looks after the chick, and at night he goes to feed and forgets about him. When the baby is 7 days old, the parent leaves him altogether. The female does not take any part in the development and growth of the chick. Soon the little kiwi leaves for the first night hunt. The weight of the chick is about 250 grams, it is vulnerable and weak, often becoming easy prey. Chicks grow slowly and for a long time.

In kiwi lives up to 60 years.

Kiwi species: Common kiwi

The kiwi bird is a unique feathered creature that only lives in one place on earth. Have you heard of the hairy fruit of the same name? Do you think this pichuga was named after him? About this and much more interesting about the kiwi bird in our article!

The keelless kiwi bird from the family of the same name is an amazing bird, unlike other animals, which is endemic to New Zealand. She does not even have wings, without which, it would seem, a bird cannot be called a bird. However, this unusual animal is very interesting to study.

Kiwi is a relative of the ostrich

What does a feathered kiwi look like

Kiwi is a small (about the size of an ordinary village chicken) wingless bird, which actually looks a bit like the furry "skin" of the fruit of the same name. Kiwi feathers at first can be confused with the real thick hair of mammals. By the way, this bird does not have a tail, but it has a number of signs that indicate a great similarity with animals: for example, they have vibrissae - “antennae”, like cats, and the body temperature of kiwi - about 38 degrees Celsius - is closer to the body temperature of mammals. Despite this, the kiwi has strong four-toed legs and a long beak. These signs allow us to say for sure: kiwi is a bird, not an animal! It is amazing that this living creature combines the characteristics of both mammals and birds. This once again proves how interesting and unique nature is in its essence.

Where does the "hairy bird" kiwi live?

The kiwi bird is endemic to New Zealand. This means that the kiwi lives exclusively in one place and nowhere else on earth. Such animals are especially characteristic of Australia (for example, the koala) and the islands adjacent to it (which are the islands of New Zealand).

These birds lead a rather secretive lifestyle. They try to settle where no human foot has yet set foot and where there are no predatory enemies. Moist evergreen forests, as well as swamps, are the usual habitats for kiwi. By the way, long legs with long fingers are designed specifically for moving on viscous soil.

During the day, kiwi birds are difficult to meet in open areas: these birds usually hide in dug holes or hollows. But at night, "fluffy birds" go hunting. What are they looking for? What do they eat? We will talk about this now.

What does the kiwi bird eat

Kiwi is not a bird of prey: its food is insects, earthworms and terrestrial mollusks, as well as berries and fruits of local plants. Finding them in nature is not difficult, because kiwis, not having good eyesight, have an excellent sense of smell, allowing you to smell food at some distance. Sometimes, when the usual food becomes insufficient, the bird is able to catch and eat larger prey - small amphibians or reptiles.

Kiwi breeding

During the mating season, which lasts from June to March, kiwis form pairs for themselves. Interestingly, the kiwi union is monogamous and lasts at least two years. There are cases when these birds formed pairs for life.

Kiwi lays only one or two eggs of an incredibly large (compared to the mass of the animal) weight - up to 0.5 kg! This is a bird record. Kiwi eggs are usually white, sometimes with a greenish tint. In terms of the content of yolk in a kiwi egg, it again becomes a record holder: it is 65% there (in other birds - no more than 40%).

The female kiwi, while carrying an egg, eats a lot: still, because before laying the egg, the animal did not eat at all for some time! The laid eggs are incubated by the male, sometimes he is replaced by the female.

After two or three months, the chick hatches and does not eat for the first time: the cub feeds on subcutaneous reserves of yolk. Within two weeks, the chick grows up and goes out in search of food on its own.

Features of the kiwi bird

The kiwi bird itself is very unusual. Its features are uncharacteristic of other animals.

• The children of these birds are born already with feathers, and not with down. Yes, and being born for them is a difficulty: it takes birds three days to get out of the shell!
• For their dissimilarity to other birds, the famous scientist William Calder called kiwi birds "honorary mammals."
• By the way, it was the bird that gave the name to the hairy fruit, and not vice versa. By the way, in honor of the bird, people not only named the fruit tree, but also made it national in New Zealand. There, the kiwi bird can appear both on coins and on postage stamps.

Enemies of the amazing kiwi bird

Few animals can harm a furry bird. Due to the fact that predators such as cats, dogs and martens were brought to the island by Europeans several centuries ago, the number of kiwis has noticeably decreased. Until that time, there were many more kiwi birds. However, in places where there are no animals uncharacteristic of New Zealand, kiwi is safe, and nothing threatens their population.

Kiwi- this is not only a very juicy, bright green, tasty fruit, but also a unique feathered creation of nature. Kiwi bird- this is an endemic of New Zealand, it is here that a real acquaintance with a unique bird is possible, which does not even have wings to fly up.

Where the name of this came from is not exactly known, but some scientists suggest that it is rooted far back in history. Maori, who are considered the indigenous people of the island of New Zealand, mimicked the sounds, their twitter, it sounded like “kii-wee-kii-wee”. Perhaps this onomatopoeia of the Maori people gave the basis for the name of the unique bird.

The kiwi doesn't have a tail either. And the body temperature of these mysterious birds is much closer in terms of indicators to mammals, as it equals approximately 38 degrees Celsius. The legs of the kiwi are four-toed, and at the same time very strong and powerful. On each finger of the limb there are sharp strong claws.

The weight of the legs is about a third of the total weight. The legs are quite wide apart, so when running, kiwi birds look rather clumsy and somewhat reminiscent of funny mechanical toys, so they rarely run fast.

The nature and lifestyle of the kiwi bird

New Zealand is considered the birthplace of this unique miracle of nature, it is here kiwi bird lives. The number is declining, so Kiwis are listed in the Red Book and are protected. But still, poachers and enemies of these animals in the wild do not allow the population to grow rapidly.

Often exotic lovers want buy kiwi to replenish their private collections and mini-zoos. Deforestation and uprooting have significantly reduced the area in which these birds live.

Now no more than 5 birds live on one square kilometer at the same time, this is a very low indicator of the population density of forest birds. Kiwi live mainly in the damp thickets of the island's evergreen forests. Long fingers with claws allow you to move through wet, soft, almost marshy soil.

During the daytime, kiwis spend in dug holes or hide in the roots of trees, dense thickets of plants. Burrows are unusual labyrinths that can even have more than one exit, but several at once.

There can be a large number of such daytime shelters, and the bird changes them almost every day. If a bird leaves its daytime shelter, it is only because of danger. Usually kiwis are never seen during the day, they hide.

Kiwis are nocturnal, at this time there are dramatic changes in their behavior. At night, the birds are quite active and spend most of their time foraging for food and building new shelters - burrows. Very often aggressive behavior is characteristic of birds, especially males sway.

They are ready to fight and defend their territory, especially if it has nests with eggs. Sometimes real wars and fights break out between birds, often they fight for life and death.

Reproduction and lifespan of the kiwi bird

About kiwi speak as a model of fidelity among birds. Pairs are formed for 2-3 seasons, but often a couple is inseparable all their lives. Their main mating season runs from June to March. It is at this time that touching dates take place.

The male and female meet in the hole approximately once every two or three days and make special sounds. Since kiwi birds are nocturnal, their relationship is witnessed by the stars and the mysterious darkness of nights.

After fertilization, the female bears an egg, as a rule, only one, this is due to a number of reasons. During the period of gestation, the female has an unprecedented appetite, she eats about three times more food than usual.

But when the time comes to lay an egg, the female cannot eat anything for about three days, this is due to the unusually large size of the egg itself, which at that time is inside the bird.

Ordinary kiwi egg weighs approximately 450 grams, which is a quarter of the weight of the bird itself. The egg is large, white, sometimes has a greenish tint. In the shelter that the female has chosen - a hole or thick tree roots, the male incubates the egg. For a while, so that the male can eat and stock up on energy, the female replaces him.

The incubation period lasts 75 days, then it will take about three more days for the chick to get out of the shell, it does this mainly with the help of its paws and beak. It is hard to call kiwi birds caring parents; immediately after the birth of the chicks, they leave them.

For three days, the chicks cannot stand on their feet and move on their own to get food, but the supply of yolk allows them not to think about it. Somewhere on the fifth day, the young offspring leave the shelter and feed on their own, but after the 10th day of life, the chicks fully adapt and begin to lead a normal life, observing a nocturnal lifestyle.

Due to their defenselessness and lack of parental care, almost 90 percent of the young brood dies in the first six months. Only 10 percent survive to puberty, which in males occurs at 18 months, but in females as much as three years of age. The life expectancy of these birds is 50-60 years, during which time the female lays about 100 eggs, of which approximately 10 chicks survive.

Kiwi bird food

Kiwis come out for feeding at night, when it is dark around, and at the same time the birds have very poor eyesight. However, this is not a hindrance for them to get food. They begin their lunch meal about half an hour after sunset. They leave their hiding place and use their sense of smell and touch.

They rake the ground with their powerful legs, then plunge their beak into it and literally sniff out a delicacy for themselves. Thus, they get worms and insects that are found in the soil.

Kiwi birds can eat fallen berries and fruits that are found on their way. Also, they will not refuse shellfish and crustaceans, which are a true delicacy for them.