Southern Brown Kiwi
Apteryx australis
Where is it found?
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Forests, scrubland and grassland
Diet and foraging method
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Probes soil, sand and leaf litter searching for prey.
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Key adaptations
Long slender bill for searching for food in the soil.
External nostrils at the end of its beak for sensing (vibrations and smell) prey. As a consequence, individuals have to snuffle and snort dirt from their nostrils.
External nostrils at the end of its beak for sensing (vibrations and smell) prey. As a consequence, individuals have to snuffle and snort dirt from their nostrils.
Social organisation and mating system
Family groups
Breeding
Although kiwi's are monogamous, pairs will part ways if a "better" mate comes along. Males incubate the eggs, during which time they lose 1/3 of their body mass. Upon hatching, chicks do not need feeding as they can survive on the yolk in their belly and venture out of their burrows to explore.
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Did you know that...?
Kiwi's lay huge eggs!
Kiwi eggs are six times as big as normal for a bird of its size and they take up a whooping 20% of the mother's body - an Ostrich egg is only 2% of the mother's body mass!
Kiwi eggs are six times as big as normal for a bird of its size and they take up a whooping 20% of the mother's body - an Ostrich egg is only 2% of the mother's body mass!
Taxonomy
Sources:
https://www.kiwisforkiwi.org/about-kiwi/kiwi-facts-characteristics/enormous-egg/
http://www.arkive.org/tokoeka/apteryx-australis/
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22678122
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_brown_kiwi
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Tokoeka" by Glen Fergus - Own work, Stewart Island, New Zealand. Licenced under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tokoeka.jpg#/media/File:Tokoeka.jpg
"Kiwi and egg Picturesque New Zealand 1913" by Josiah Martin - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Picturesque_New_Zealand%2C_1913.djvu/page409-495px-Picturesque_New_Zealand%2C_1913.djvu.jpg. Licenced under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kiwi_and_egg_Picturesque_New_Zealand_1913.jpg#/media/File:Kiwi_and_egg_Picturesque_New_Zealand_1913.jpg
"Kiwi bird in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2002-01-01" by Allie_Caulfield - originally posted to Flickr as 2001-12-02 01-03 Neuseeland 375. Licenced under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kiwi_bird_in_Christchurch,_New_Zealand,_2002-01-01.jpg#/media/File:Kiwi_bird_in_Christchurch,_New_Zealand,_2002-01-01.jpg
http://www.arkive.org/tokoeka/apteryx-australis/
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22678122
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_brown_kiwi
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Tokoeka" by Glen Fergus - Own work, Stewart Island, New Zealand. Licenced under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tokoeka.jpg#/media/File:Tokoeka.jpg
"Kiwi and egg Picturesque New Zealand 1913" by Josiah Martin - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Picturesque_New_Zealand%2C_1913.djvu/page409-495px-Picturesque_New_Zealand%2C_1913.djvu.jpg. Licenced under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kiwi_and_egg_Picturesque_New_Zealand_1913.jpg#/media/File:Kiwi_and_egg_Picturesque_New_Zealand_1913.jpg
"Kiwi bird in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2002-01-01" by Allie_Caulfield - originally posted to Flickr as 2001-12-02 01-03 Neuseeland 375. Licenced under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kiwi_bird_in_Christchurch,_New_Zealand,_2002-01-01.jpg#/media/File:Kiwi_bird_in_Christchurch,_New_Zealand,_2002-01-01.jpg
