Habitat and Range Description Food Breeding Sounds More Images Recent Literature

Kiwis

Order: DinornithiformesLittle Spotted Kiwi

Family: Apterygidae

3 species

HABITAT AND RANGE:

New Zealand;

DESCRIPTION:

flightless; 35-55 cm; up to 3.5 kg; wings rudimentary; plumage hairlike; many long bristle-like feathers on face; no rectrices; bill long, slender, nostrils near tip; 4 toes; nocturnal forest dweller;

FOOD:

eats earthworms and other soil inverts and vegetable material; female 20% larger;

BREEDING:

burrow nest; relatively huge eggs, usually 1 or 2 in number, incubated by male; sexual maturity at least 2 years

SOUNDS:

MORE IMAGES:

RECENT LITERATURE:

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(Image taken from Heather, B. and Hugh Robertson. Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1997).