By its origin, the kiwi bird is unique and extremely interesting. Scientists believe that the original homeland of the flightless species is New Zealand. The wingless representative of the Apterygidae family is part of the kiwiformes order, where nature is divided into 5 species characteristic of New Zealand.
Kiwis and their general characteristics
The nimble bird, which is not destined to soar in the sky, has two legs and a long beak. It could be mistaken for an outlandish animal, because the kiwi does not have a tail or wings, and its feathers resemble short undercoat.
Life on earth without flying in the air has made its own adjustments to the habits of the kiwi. Moreover, the bird is considered a very ancient species. The ancestors of the kiwi, according to researchers, came to the New Zealand islands from Australasia almost 30 million years ago.
For a long time, the flightless and already extinct moa birds were considered to be the genetic relatives of kiwi. Then geneticists conducted an in-depth analysis of the kiwi's DNA and found that this bird's genes are much closer to emu and cassowary than to moa..
There are 5 species of ratites found in New Zealand. Let's look at them in more detail:
- Southern view;
- Northern brown;
- Big grey;
- Small gray;
- View of Rovi.
Today, the populations of all 5 species are quite stable thanks to the efforts of conservationists. The most common species in New Zealand is considered to be the Rowi species.
Kiwi appearance
Nature has made wingless creatures the size of an ordinary chicken. Due to dimorphism, females are larger than males. The small head rotates deftly on the bird’s short neck. Average weight creations vary from 1.4 to 4 kg.
Kiwi bones are heavy, legs are powerful with 4 toes and sharp claws. Residual wings of 3-5 cm are still present in some birds. Kiwis have retained the habit of hiding their heads under their symbolic wings, just as flying birds do.
The eyes of these birds are incredibly small - the diameter of one eye is only 8 mm. Birds navigate in space using smell and hearing.
A strong sense of smell, like that of the kiwi, is rare in birds in nature. Only condors have similar olfactory abilities..
The bird's body temperature is 38 degrees Celsius, which makes the kiwi similar to mammals. The feathers of these individuals emit a strong smell of mushrooms, which, unfortunately, is how predators track them.
How do kiwis live?
Kiwis are crepuscular birds that live in forests and wetlands. During the day they live in hollows, burrows or under snags. At night they go in search of food.
To some extent, this species can be considered omnivorous: berries, worms, insects, shellfish and fruits form the basis of the bird's diet. From June to mid-spring, kiwis form pairs for several seasons or for life. The female lays only one egg of impressive size. It can weigh up to half a kilogram.
The chick hatches after 75-85 days. After a couple of days, he is already on his feet and begins to feed. At the age of 5 years, birds reach their full size. The life expectancy of an individual under a successful combination of circumstances is 50-60 years. Over the course of her life, one female lays up to 100 eggs.
Features of the population
Just 1000 years ago, the number of kiwis in New Zealand was 12 million. Now there are only 70 thousand birds on the island. Cats, dogs and weasels are the main exterminators of this species. Contributes to the extinction of birds and human activities.
The country has a state program to protect this species. The kiwi bird has long been recognized as the official symbol of New Zealand lands.
Gray, as well as large and small species are listed in the Red Book. There they were given the status “vulnerable”.
Many people have at least once heard about the kiwi bird, and also that it cannot fly, but few knew and know the following about these birds:
- The habitat of one individual is 1 km. On its land, a kiwi can make up to 50 daytime shelters;
- Having made a house, the birds do not celebrate housewarming, but wait a couple of weeks until the hole is overgrown in order to use natural camouflage;
- The shell of the bird's eggs is white with greenish splashes;
- It takes kiwi chicks exactly 3 days to break their shell and get out;
- The fruit of the same name is named after the bird, due to its similar “appearance”;
- When the female of this species lays an egg, she does not eat for several days, as it takes most her body.
The kiwi is endemic to the two main islands of New Zealand. It is known that New Zealanders sometimes eat its meat. To maintain the population, special reserves and reserves are being built, from where the grown chicks are released into the wild. New Zealanders take pride in their symbol, featuring the kiwi on coins, stamps and souvenirs. This bird is also a local hero literary works for children, several animated films have been made featuring her image.
The kiwi bird is one of the most amazing creatures inhabiting our planet. For many, its name evokes an association with the fruit of the same name. What do he and birds have in common? Why did zoologist William Calder call these birds “honorary mammals”? Where can you meet these unique creatures? The answers to these questions, as well as some interesting facts about kiwi, are in this article.
What does a bird look like?
According to the size of the kiwi you can compare to regular chicken. Her body is covered with feathers, which are more like thick animal fur. The light brown or gray plumage actually looks like the furry skin of a kiwi fruit. By the way, it was in honor of the bird that the fruit was named, and not vice versa.
The feathered kiwi has a somewhat pear-shaped body and a small head on a short neck. Body weight – from 1.5 to 4 kg. Females weigh more than males - this is due to the need to bear eggs.
Can the kiwi bird fly? No, because the vestigial wings, which are only 5 cm long, are not suitable for flight. However, they have not lost the habit of hiding their beak under the wing during sleep and rest.
This feathered creature has no tail. Besides this, there are other features that make it more like an animal than a bird:
- body temperature 38 °C is close to the body temperature of mammals (in birds 40-42 °C);
- At the base of the beak there are vibrissae - thin long whiskers that perform the function of smell.
So who is this: bird or animal? Kiwi has a beak and four-toed legs - these signs indicate that it is still a bird. The legs are distinguished by sharp claws, short and strong. Thanks to them, the bird confidently stays on swampy soil. The beak is long and thin, sometimes curved, and its length on average is about 10-12 cm.
The wingless bird's vision is poorly developed - tiny eyes less than a centimeter in diameter are proof of this. This deficiency is compensated by well-developed hearing and sense of smell. Among birds, kiwis are second only to condors in their sense of smell. In addition to whiskers, there is one more interesting feature: The nostrils are located at the tip of the beak, and not at its base, like in all other birds.
Where does it live?
The kiwi bird is endemic to New Zealand. This means that she lives here and nowhere else in the world. Damp evergreen forests and swamps are its habitual habitat. In places most densely populated by these birds, there are only 4-5 individuals per square kilometer.
Lifestyle and nutrition
It is not so easy to meet kiwi in nature - the birds prefer a nocturnal lifestyle. During the day they sit out in various holes and hollows, under the roots of trees. It should be noted that they are very careful and behave like real partisans. Thus, they do not use a freshly dug hole for shelter, but patiently wait for several weeks until it is overgrown with grass and moss, or they themselves disguise the entrance with branches and leaves.
In their territorial area, birds have about fifty such shelters and change them every day. The territorial division is very clear; the boundaries of the kiwi's territory are marked by loud cries that are heard at night.
Cautious and secretive quiet creatures become active and aggressive at night. Males defend the boundaries of their territory from competitors, although fights between kiwis are quite rare. The first impression that the kiwi makes with its appearance - an awkward and slow bird - turns out to be wrong. During the night they manage to cover their entire territory - and this is an area from 2 to 100 hectares!
Half an hour after sunset, the birds go in search of food. Their prey is insects, earthworms, and mollusks, which they sniff out in the ground, plunging their long beak into it. Birds also do not refuse fallen berries and fruits.
Reproduction
Mating season lasts from June to March. Birds are monogamous by nature: pairs remain for 2-3 mating seasons, and sometimes throughout life.
The main mission of the female is to lay one egg. But what! The egg weighs 500 g, which is about a quarter of the weight of the bird itself. According to this indicator, kiwi is the record holder among birds. And this is not the last record - the share of yolk in an egg is 65, which is much more than that of other birds (up to 40%).
During the entire gestation period, the female increases her diet three times. This is due to the fact that in the last few days before laying an egg she will starve - the body simply there will be no room for food! But it is the male who incubates the egg. He leaves the nest only for a couple of hours to have a snack - sometimes the female replaces him during this time.
The incubation period takes about 80 days. Since the egg’s shell is quite thick, in order to get out of it, the chick has to try and actively work with its legs and beak. This takes him 2-3 days. Kiwi chicks are born with feathers, and not covered with down, as is the case with other birds. This makes the chicks look like adults.
Kiwis can hardly be called caring parents - they leave the chick immediately after birth. During the first week after birth, the chick does not search for food, but feeds on subcutaneous yolk reserves. After some time, when the chick is one and a half to two weeks old, he is already looking for his own food.
At first, the chicks feed only during the day, gradually switching to a nocturnal lifestyle. All this makes small birds vulnerable and easy prey for predatory animals. About 90% of young individuals do not survive to the age of six months.
Up to size adult Chicks grow up only at 4-5 years of age. But furry birds live long, V wildlife up to 50-60 years old - this indicator can be the envy of many other birds.
Kiwi population
Due to the secretive lifestyle of kiwis, you will find them in natural environment habitation is almost impossible. For this reason, the rapid decline in their numbers was unknown for a long time. But just a thousand years ago their population numbered about 12 million individuals, and in 2004 - only 70 thousand.
Nature has endowed these unusual birds high abilities to adapt to change environment. However, deforestation and predators brought to New Zealand by Europeans - cats, dogs and weasels - have done their job.
In total, there are 5 species in the kiwi genus - all of them listed in the International Red Book:
- Southern, or common, kiwi;
- Northern brown kiwi;
- Large gray kiwi;
- Small gray kiwi;
Launched in 1991 Government program for kiwi restoration. Predator control and captive breeding of kiwi have been proposed as protective measures.
Scientists have also proposed develop a deodorant for kiwi. The fact is that their feathers have a specific mushroom smell, by which birds are easily found by predators.
Interesting facts and information
Hairy and wingless, unlike other birds in many ways - this is the kiwi bird. Interesting Facts, associated with her, serve as proof of her originality:
That's what she is, kiwi - unique creature, combining the features of both birds and animals.
In the bright, sunny family of fruits there is one that looks like a “poor relative”, inconspicuous, unattractive, and not a relative, in fact. What kind of fruit is this?
We are talking about kiwi - the fruit of a plant of the genus Actinidia sinensis (or delicacy). These plants are tree-like vines, whose homeland is China. What else is known about him?
Kiwi has many names. Based on the fact that the kiwi berry fruit and its wild predecessors weighed about 30 grams, many call it Chinese gooseberry, due to the similarity of the cultivated fruit in shape and color with potatoes and the “fluffiness” of shaggy potatoes. But it owes its name to the small kiwi bird.
This culture became widespread in the world relatively recently. At the beginning of the 20th century, wild Actinidia was cultivated in New Zealand and kiwi fruits began to weigh 100g, and their taste characteristics improved significantly. Currently, countries with a subtropical climate readily grow and sell kiwi. The most common actinidia plantations are in Italy, Israel, New Zealand, and Chile. In Russia, kiwi is also grown on the Black Sea coast, in Krasnodar region and in Dagestan. Hundreds interesting recipes dishes from this delicious and healthy fruit can be found on the Internet.
The kiwi fruit has a color of light brown, up to more dark shade, with green or green pulp yellow color(gold kiwi variety); soft to the touch in ripe condition. It is believed that kiwi harmoniously combines the aroma and taste of gooseberries, bananas, strawberries, melons, apples and pineapples. Tastes could not be discussed!
Ripe and delicious fruits kiwi has a remarkable feature compared to many fruits - combining healthy and taste qualities, have a very low calorie content: 100g of kiwi is only 48 kcal.
Kiwi consists mainly of water, up to 84%, a small amount of carbohydrates, 1% protein and dietary fiber(disaccharides, monosaccharides). The usefulness of kiwi is due to the content of vitamins in them: more vitamin C than in citrus fruits; vitamin E, extremely important for pregnant and lactating women, for those who are on a diet; folic acid, vitamin B6, necessary for everyone, especially pregnant women, the elderly and children; microelements - manganese, zinc, iodine, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, which play an important role in ensuring the vital functions of the body.
The beneficial effect of the fruits of the “Chinese gooseberry” in the prevention of colds, strengthening protective forces body, in excretion bad cholesterol, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis, increasing metabolism. Kiwi contains a wonderful enzyme - actinidin, which helps break down proteins, improve digestion and normalize the process of blood clotting.
It is better to eat kiwi half an hour before meals or after a meal, after one and a half to two hours. Most people peel the skin with a knife and cut it into slices before eating. It is considered more correct to cut off the “lid” of the fruit and select the pulp with a small spoon with teeth on the rim.
A couple of kiwi fruits a day will improve your mood and relieve depression; a mask of fruit lobes will tone your skin and make it glow gratefully.
Sep 15, 2014 Marina
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