Kiwis for Kiwi - The New Zealand Icon

For New Zealanders the kiwi is more than a bird, it is a fundamental part of our cultural identity. We even call ourselves 'Kiwis'. English biologist David Bellamy summed up the national attitude in 1990 in saying, "there can be no other country in the world that cherishes the image of a bird as New Zealand does its kiwi. It is truly a national bird, an icon".

Kiwi are biological oddities, unique in appearance and behaviour. A ratite, and, therefore related to the moa, emu and ostrich, the kiwi has been called an 'honorary' mammal and the most unbird-like bird in the world. Elsewhere, the niche occupied by the kiwi is the domain of moles, anteaters and hedgehogs. Some of the kiwi's features such as low blood temperature and a pair of functional ovaries - instead of the one that most birds have - are features more typical of mammals than birds. Males are smaller than females and perform most of the incubation; this reversal of roles is associated with monogamy, a combination that is rare among birds.

Kiwi are generally nocturnal and flightless, having minute vestigial wings and no tail. Kiwi eggs are extremely large and rich in energy, and take a very long time to hatch - 70 to 85 days. Kiwi have an exceptional sense of smell and their nostrils are uniquely placed near the tip of the bill. Notwithstanding some seabirds and vultures, birds do not generally develop a sense of smell. The kiwi's brain is equipped with an olfactory (smell) bulb much larger than other birds and has been described as something like a hedgehog snuffling and shuffling through the forest continuously probing the soil for worms and invertebrates.

Kiwi don't lay many eggs in a season. The North Island brown kiwi is the most prolific, at two clutches of two eggs each year, but the three other species average only one egg. Chicks become independent after two to three weeks. By then its father has moved to a new nest and is incubating a second clutch.

Kiwi are fiercely territorial. Some individuals will claim a territory up to 40 hectares in size, while other territories are as small as two hectares, dependant on food supplies. The kiwi diet is a mixture of worms, spiders, insect larvae and sometimes fallen fruit.

According to Maori lore, the kiwi is the oldest of all Tane Mahuta's bird family. Kiwi hold a very special significance for Maori, naming it 'Te Manuhuna o Tane' (the hidden bird of Tane, God of the forest). Kiwi feathers are highly prized by Maori for traditional korowai (cloak) weaving. Local iwi receive feathers from kiwi that have been accidentally killed, by cars for example.

This page was updated on 4 June, 2008