Bird of the Week 9/25 - 9/29

kiwi (not the fruit)

This week’s bird is the: Great Spotted Kiwi

1. Most people are familiar with kiwis, but if you are not, they are flightless birds of New Zealand. The Great Spotted Kiwi is one of five species, all of which are threatened due to habitat loss and introduction of predators to the country.

2. New Zealanders identify with the kiwis, so much so that people from the country identify as “Kiwis,” and the image of a kiwi is used to represent the country in various contexts (including the air force – get the irony there?)

   

3. The Great Spotted Kiwi is the largest of the five species, weighing in at a hefty 5-7 pounds. To put that in perspective, that’s about twice the weight of a Mallard!

4. Kiwis sustain their heft by eating a lot of beetles and earthworms. They will eat pretty much anything they can find on the forest floor though, including fruit and the occasional freshwater invertebrate.

5. Island birds were historically free from predation by mammals like rats, cats, dogs weasels, etc. The absence of this pressure allowed for the evolution on flightless birds! But European colonization was often accompanied by the introduction of these predators, leading to sharp declines in many bird populations. To protect these species, many programs aim to eliminate introduced mammal populations – often with success.

Have a great week!