What is a Kiwi Bird?
A kiwi bird is a bird in the family Apterygidae. Kiwis are native to New Zealand, and there are five recognized kiwi species living today, all of which are endangered. These small brown birds are also the national bird of New Zealand, and they have been used in regimental standards, crests, and other decorative devices which symbolize New Zealand since the 1800s. In fact, the kiwi is so closely associated with the national identity of New Zealand that New Zealanders sometimes refer to themselves as “kiwis.” These birds are occasionally jokingly referred to as evolutionary leftovers, and they are in fact the lone survivors of a once much larger bird family. They have a number of bizarre traits, including a few which are found in no other bird species in the world. Kiwis are ratites, meaning that they lack a keel to which flight muscles can be attached, so they are incapable of flight. They are the smallest of the ratites, weighing in at around the size of a domestic chicken, and they al
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The kiwi is the best-known bird in New Zealand. This flightless bird wears a shaggy coat of hair like feathers. Its wings are useless stubs, and it has no tail. The kiwi has a long bill with nostrils at the tip, and whiskers like a cat. The whisker like bristles on the kiwis face act as feelers. These help the poor-sighted kiwi find its way around the forest, as it searches for grubs and earthworms, poking its long beak here and there. Pictures of this shy, waddling bird can be seen on New Zealand coins and stamps, as well as on cans of shoe polish.
