Kiwi Bird Stories

The Flightless Kiwi

By Soeun 

I am learning to inform my audience through an information report.

It’s brown, it’s nocturnal and it is a New Zealand treasure, yes it is the kiwi bird. Many people believe that there is only one specie of kiwi but there are actually five, The Great Spotted Kiwi, the Little Spotted Kiwi, the North Island Brown Kiwi, the Okarito Kiwi and the Southern Brown kiwi. The kiwi is a rare flightless bird that is only found in New Zealand. Kiwi’s have many unique things about themselves like the nostrils on the end of its beak, it is the only bird that has their nostrils located on the end! A kiwi can run as fast as a human but with predators around they are endangered as they can not fly it isn’t easy for their to get far away and it is important that they stay alive because they are New Zealand's native animal. A kiwi life span of a kiwi is up to 40 year, if they don't get caught by a predator.

Predators: Mustelids, Pigs, Possums, Rodents and hedgehogs. There are four groups of predators for kiwi. Let's start with Mustelids. Stoats, ferrets and weasels all eat eggs and baby kiwi that weigh under 1kg and about 4 to 5 times bigger than them. Pigs eat kiwis in their nest and destroy eggs. Some people purposely release wild pigs to catch kiwi. New Zealand has started put traps out for pigs so we can save our precious treasure. Possums were first brought to New Zealand in 1837 to establish a fur trade but after that they have gone crazy. Possums kill adult kiwi and are starting to have a big impact on New Zealand birds and native animals.Rodents and hedgehogs may not eat the kiwi but compete for the same food as it, so the kiwi’s food supply could die down or a rodent or the hedgehog could simply push the kiwi and kill it. A diet is something important all animals need and so does a kiwi.

Diet: Weta, worms and beetles. No one will want a breakfast of that but guess what, a kiwi eats that survive in its habitat, and if they can not find food that they like they can sometimes eat leaves, berries and several species of leaves. Do kiwis drink water? Well they rarely ever drink water because of the food they eat is mostly water, did you know that juicy earthworms are 85 percent water. Kiwi’s a nocturnal is also another reason of why they do not drink much water because they will not get bothered and hot by the sun. When they do drink water they tilt back their beak and guzzle down the water. Kiwi’s get all the food they need in a habitat.

Habitat: Kiwis are adaptable which means they can basically live everywhere as long as it is not too dry or too wet. Kiwis are found it wetland environments, sand dunes, scrublands and even mangroves. The kiwi likes to be near the soil because they are soil feeders. A kiwi lives in these areas to get food and have it suited for their needs. Some kiwis live in zoo’s where they are protected and looked after.

In conclusion the kiwi is a endangered New Zealand treasure that we must protect. Now you know that in order for a kiwi to survive it needs a habitat and food to keep itself healthy and happy. We should do our part to save the kiwi because they are our national animal.