THE KIWI

The endangered kiwi is a little bird native to New Zealand. It is a flightless bird – their Latin species name is Apteryx, which means wingless. It belongs to an ancient group of birds that can’t fly – the ratites. As the kiwi cannot fly, how they arrived in New Zealand is not completely clear.

Contrary to popular belief, the kiwi has wings, but they are tiny and difficult to see under the fluffy, hair-like feathers.
Kiwis have very long beaks. The beaks have nostrils at the tip, which help the birds find food. Kiwis eat worms, spiders and other bugs. They are shy and usually nocturnal, which means they are active at nights. They most likely became nocturnal to avoid attacks from predators. As the kiwi can’t fly, it is easily hunted by cats, stoats and dogs. An average of 27 kiwis are killed by predators every week.

The kiwi is about the size of a chicken. It lays the largest egg in relation to its body size of any species of bird in the world. The eggs can weigh 1 pound (453 grams) each!

The kiwi faces threats from three main directions – predators, habitat loss and people. Two hundred years ago, millions of kiwis lived all throughout New Zealand. By 2008, the population had fallen to 70,000 and it keeps on declining day by day.

There are some easy ways to protect this lovely endangered species. You do not need to go to New Zealand to help them. You can donate to sanctuaries that are safe places for the kiwi. We should do everything possible to save all endangered animals like these little kiwi birds.