🌳The Kiwi🌲

Did you know that there is a flightless bird that lives on the isolated country of New Zealand? If you answered the kiwi, you are correct! The kiwi is one of the rarest birds that are native to New Zealand. With its unusual sized beak to its tiny little wings, the kiwi is a pretty unique bird compared to others In the world. People think there are only 1 kiwi bird, but there are actually 5 different types of the kiwi! From the great spotted kiwi, the north island brown kiwi, the southern brown kiwi, the little spotted kiwi and the okarito kiwi. The kiwi’s speed can be matched with a regular human, and they are a relative to other birds like the ostrich, moa and emu. Those little kiwi birds need many things to survive, and a healthy diet is one of them.

Diet
Kiwis live in diverse habitats, so they’re diet stretches from mountains to rainforests.
Most of their diet includes invertebrates. One of the kiwis favourites is the native worm, which can grow up to 50 centimetres. Fortunately, New Zealand, the country they live in, is FULL of worms. The fluffy brown birds diet also includes berries, seeds and leaves.
Kiwis get water mostly out of their food, for example, 85% of the earthworm is water. This means kiwis can live in drier places. When a kiwi does need to drink water, it dips they’re whole beak into the water, puts its head back up and glugs down the water through its throat. They have their diet sorted, but they need a home that has enough of these foods to keep them healthy.

Habitat
A habitat is a natural environment for an animal to live in. Many creatures have one home, one habitat which is suitable for the animal. But the kiwi is a bit different. The kiwi is adaptable, so they can live in a huge range of habitats, from the forests to the rough farmland. Although, the kiwi usually prefers a dark, damp area because they are nocturnal. Kiwis are very shy and very territorial in nature. They attack others to protect their territory, or “patch” with their razor sharp claws. Before people came to New Zealand, the country was only 5% grassland. Now, more that 38% is full of grassland and pastures, and that is not a suitable habitat for the kiwi. Due to the fact that the kiwi can’t fly, the habitat is really important if they want to survive because the little bird is very vulnerable to the many predators out there in the wild, hunting for the small, chicken sized creature.

Predators
The kiwis population used to be in the millions. Now when the English came, they brought Cats, Dogs, Ferrets, Stoats, and more. Now, every week an average of 27 kiwis are killed by the other animals, hunting for food. The main culprits for the death of the kiwis are the Stoats and the Cats. They take a heavy toll on little birds during the first 3 months of their life.

Dogs, ferrets, and pigs hunt for the adult kiwis and eggs. This is bad because these are the breeding birds, and without them there will be no eggs or chicks to keep the population stable. Other animals like the hedgehog and the weasel, don’t kill the kiwi, but compete for the same food as them, and are also prey for the same predators as the kiwi, keeping them filled and keeping their numbers high. Although, when the predators are heavily controlled by humans, the kiwi’s egg rate rises by 50-60%.

Conclusion
As you can see, the kiwi is an endangered icon to New Zealand, and is vital to the culture. If we want to save it, we must know the diet is maintained and balanced, and a habitat where the kiwi is safe from predators. The kiwi is a great icon to New Zealand, and we must do what we can so we won’t let that go.