New Zealand Native Animals > North Island Brown Kiwi

North Island Brown Kiwi

Apteryx mantelli

ENDEMIC

DISTRIBUTION: Isolated pockets in the North Island. HABITAT: Mainly bush, but will venture into scrub and grasslands.

BREEDING: Can be an extended season throughout the warmer months of the year. One or two eggs are normally laid (three weeks apart) in an underground burrow. Incubation is for approximately 80 to 90 days, undertaken solely by the male. Eggs can weigh up to 520gms, about 20% of the females body weight.

FOOD: The only bird in the world with its nostrils located at the end of its beak, which is adapted for feeding on worms and insects. It will also feed on arthropods, crustaceans and vegetable matter i.e. berries.

VOICE: Shrill ascending to descending whistle which sounds like ‘kiwi’ as well as an assortment of grunts and short whistles.

GENERAL: Kiwi have no tail, hair-like feathers, whiskers, marrow in their bones, are flightless and nocturnal. Due to introduced predators including ferrets, stoats, weasels, cats, dogs and rats, numbers are at a precarious point. Without management there is a fear of their extinction.Kiwi live for 15-30 years.


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