Five species of flightless bird found only in New Zealand, about the size of a chicken and the smallest ratites. Their wings are so small they’re hidden under hair-like feathers, and they smell prey through nostrils at the tip of the beak.
Quick answers
What is it?Bird
Carnivore?Omnivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
Mostly nocturnal, perhaps because of predators, and it relies more on smell and touch than sight.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inNew Zealand
HabitatForest, Scrub
ColoursBrown, Grey
SizeSmall
Legs2
Covered inFeathers
Lives inpairs
Lives for25–50 years
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- New Zealand only.
- What it eats
- Prey it finds by smell, using the nostrils at the end of its long beak.
Did you know
Lays an egg up to a quarter of its own body weight, and its nostrils are at the beak tip.
Its closest relative is the extinct elephant bird of Madagascar, not New Zealand’s moa.
Four of the five kiwi species are listed as Vulnerable, mainly because of introduced predators.
Often confused with
On these lists
Sources
Last reviewed
Play
Could you have guessed it?
A photo, a few hints, one guess. Same 438 animals.
