The kiwi is probably one of the most fascinating birds on the planet and scientists have been studying this intriguing bird for years due to its unusual features and habits. Firstly, the kiwi is a nocturnal bird, sleeping in a burrow for most of the day, while foraging in the evenings. It is black in color and has very tiny wings, making it unable to fly. Its plumage resembles fur and it has an impeccable sense of smell, with its nostrils being located at the end of its beak. It is also the only bird in the world where the female has two ovaries, and instead of boasting tail feathers, it has whiskers. Not only is their sense of smell flawless, but their hearing is also extremely sensitive, making up for the fact that their eyesight is not as good as other nocturnal creatures. The kiwi’s dark coloring allows it to camouflage itself perfectly at night, and it will stand dead still, while blending into its environment, if a predator is in the vicinity. They feed mainly on insects and worms, and are very territorial.

When in the wild, campers and hikers will often hear the sniffing of a kiwi bird as it searches for food without seeing it. At Kiwi Encounters a nocturnal area has been created to resemble the birds’ natural habitat as closely as possible, including high tech lighting, creating an artificial moonlit evening, and allowing visitors to see them forage for food and go about their evening routines. There are also outdoor enclosures to investigate, some of which feature predators. The Kiwi Culture Exhibit provides the public with essential information in regard to the birds’ characteristics, origins and predators, which could include domesticated animals. It also features how New Zealanders were given the nickname of Kiwis and where products such as kiwi fruit and kiwi nuggets got their names.

The nursery and hatchery is where the captive breeding program is controlled and run. Their dietary needs are seen to through breeding facilities for worms and all the other creatures that kiwis prefer eating. Kiwi Encounter is an attraction for the entire family to enjoy, as it has specialized exhibits and interactive programs for children. Visiting the Kiwi Encounter centre is not only educational and exciting, but with each visitor passing through its doors, funds are being raised to continue the invaluable work of conservationists and scientists to save the kiwi bird.

Related posts:

1. Kiwi Birds
2. The Rare Takahe of New Zealand
3. Pay a Visit to the National Aviary

If you are going to be traveling, you may find it useful to purchase a handbook of the birds of the world. Some of the most fascinating bird species live in Australia and New Zealand. The emu is the second largest bird in the world (the largest is the ostrich). These flightless birds are nomadic, feeding on grains, fruits, insects and whatever else is available as they travel. They are able to run at speeds of 50 km/h. Folklore states that Emus have the ability to detect rain from hundreds of miles away.

The kiwi bird of New Zealand differs from other birds of the world in that its nostrils are at the end of the beak and proportionally it lays the largest egg in relation to its body. It can be compared to a chicken laying an ostrich egg.

The world’s smallest bird is the bee hummingbird from Cuba. It is only 2.5 inches in length (6.2 cm) and weighs a mere 0.06 oz (1.6 g).

On the other hand the largest bird in the world is the ostrich. The ostrich is indigenous in Africa, however it is farmed throughout the world. It reaches 9 ft (2.7 m) in height and its eggs weigh in at about 3 pounds (1400 g).

Another interesting creature in the avian world is the Gentoo penguin. This flightless bird is the fastest swimming bird in the world. Their primary colony is on the Falklands.

Certain of world’s birds are endemic. This means that they are found only in that specific area. For example the helmeted woodpecker, black-fronted piping-guan and russet winged spadebill are endemic to the Atlantic forest. Endemic to the Nicobar Islands of India are the Nicobar sparrowhawk, Andaman cuckoo-dove, white-headed starling and Nicobar Megapode.

From the world’s smallest bird to the largest, from the fastest in air to the fastest in water, they are all fascinating and worthy of our attention.

Related posts:

1. Flightless Birds
2. Alien Predators Outsmarted by Birds
3. Birds in Folklore from Around the World

One of the world’s oddest bird species is the kiwi. This New Zealand bird species seems to break all the rules on what it means to be a bird:

• It doesn’t fly,
• Its feathers look like fur (the feathers form narrow, waterproof hairs),
• It doesn’t have wings or a tail (its wings exist only as small, vestigial stubs hiding under its “fur”),
• It has a good sense of smell (very unusual in birds).

This odd, chicken-sized, wingless bird hunts at night, by inserting its long, narrow beak into the forest floor’s soil. It sniffs out its favorite food, earthworms, with its sensitive nostrils. These nostrils are located at the tip of the beak (unlike all other birds, whose nostrils sit atop the beak’s base).

Another kiwi oddity is its enormous eggs. Each egg takes 4 weeks to develop in the female’s body; by the time she lays, it’s a full quarter of her body weight! The huge egg then needs 2-3 months of incubation before it hatches.

New Zealand’s 3 kiwi species are rare in the wild, and are getting rarer all the time. Their populations drop at 6% a year, due to land clearing and introduced predators (like dogs, cats and stoats). But humans are making a big effort to save them from extinction – many kiwis are being transferred from the New Zealand mainland to predator-free islands off the coast, where they are more likely to survive. One translocation, of a handful of Little Spotted Kiwis to Kapiti Island, resulted in a population of over a 1000 birds!

Related posts:

1. Kiwi Encounter at Rainbow Springs in New Zealand
2. One in Eight Birds in Danger of Extinction
3. Flightless Birds

Some birds are simply too large to fly. This includes land birds like Ostriches, Emus and Cassowaries. They do not need flight to escape predators. The Ostrich can run away, reaching speeds of 45 miles an hour. Cassowaries can defend themselves with powerful claws.

Several birds choose to swim instead of fly. Penguins, for instance, have wings evolved into narrow paddles they use to push themselves through the water. They are incredible swimmers and divers- large wings would interfere with their underwater abilities.

Many flightless birds evolved on small islands, where there are no mammal predators to fly away from. These birds include the Flightless Cormorant on the Galapagos Island, the now-extinct Dodo bird of Mauritius, many species of rails (small marsh birds), and New Zealand’s famous Kiwi birds.

These island-dwelling flightless birds are at particular risk of extinction. As humans moved onto their islands, they brought with them many mammal predators, such as housecats, mongooses and rats. Unable to escape from these new predators, several flightless birds went gone extinct.

Other flightless birds are still in danger. For instance, non-native predators reduced the Kakapo (New Zealand’s bizarre flightless parrot) to less than a hundred individual birds. Many people are now working hard to clear its home islands of non-native mammals, so that the flightless bird can recover.

Related posts:

1. The Fascinating Flightless Cassowary
2. Why the Dodo Bird?
3. Alien Predators Outsmarted by Birds