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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about kiwi. These birds are weird; adorable, but totally weird. In a lot of ways they’re not like other birds because they’ve adapted to be quite similar to mammals. Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. New Zealand has few native mammal species, so kiwi were able to fill the roles that mammals fill in other parts of the world. Kiwi have dense bones with bone marrow, low body temperatures - the lowest of any known living birds - and they rest in underground burrows. There are five recognized kiwi species, and all of them are at risk of extinction. More than 100 years ago, there were millions of kiwi. Their natural predators were birds of prey, such as the now extinct laughing owl. Today, kiwi are predated by introduced invasive predators such as stoats, dogs, and cats. Because kiwi didn’t have mammalian predators to contend with in their past, the birds, especially their chicks, don’t have the means to deal with these predators now that they’ve been introduced. Fewer than 5% of kiwi chicks live to adulthood; this is why conservation efforts are in place for kiwi! As adults, kiwi can kick with their dinosaur-like legs. This might sound familiar since some other kiwi relatives defend themselves in a similar way!

Kiwi not only defend themselves when attacked, they defend their territories. Kiwi live from coastal sand dunes, to dense, mountainous forests, to farmed grasslands. A pair will share a territory which they’ll mark with droppings - this is another mammal-like kiwi trait. Kiwi are considered monogamous for life, but a female will leave a pair if she spies another, more fit male. The females are larger in kiwi species, and they control the relationships. During the breeding season, which lasts from June to March, a male kiwi will chase his partner booping her on the bum with his beak in an attempt to mate, however, it’s only when she decides she’s ready and allows the male to mount her that they’ll procreate. This seems appropriate since she’ll be going through a lot of pain in order to lay her eggs. Kiwi are about the size of a chicken, so it seems safe to assume they lay chicken sized eggs, but this would be an incorrect assumption. Kiwi eggs are some of the largest compared to the mother’s body mass among all living birds. By the time an egg is ready for laying, it will take up 20% of the female’s body; and she will be unable to eat in the days leading up to laying. And while most kiwi moms only have one egg to content with, brown kiwi regularly lay more than one egg! Kiwi eggs are laid in nesting burrows. These birds can dig deep in the ground using their strong feet. The egg is then incubated for about two and a half months. Kiwi chicks hatch fully developed, meaning they look like smaller versions of their parents and they can fend for themselves almost immediately from birth. In fact, kiwi parents never even have to feed their babies! Kiwi may have multiple broods in a season, and sometimes they form family groups with siblings remaining in the parent’s territory for years to help with incubation duties - though this largely depends on the species.

Something else strange about kiwi is that they’re the only birds with nostrils at the tips of their beaks. These nostrils are used to sniff out food below the ground. Kiwi eat earthworms, snails, slugs, millipedes, crayfish, and even berries. Rooting through the dirt can clog up their noses, so kiwi do a lot of sneezing. Kiwi also come equipped with modified feathers on their faces that work like cat whiskers; these help kiwi get around in the dark as they are generally nocturnal. In the wild, it’s believed kiwi may live to be 50 or more years old under the right conditions, but, with current predation rates, their average lifespans are significantly shortened. Thankfully, the efforts in place are helping to raise their numbers, though there’s still a lot of work to be done to save these beautiful and unique birds from extinction.

For more facts on the kiwi check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.