Great spotted kiwi

The great spotted kiwi (Apteryx haastii) is a species of kiwi. This bird does not fly.  It runs on the ground.

Appearance

This bird has gray-brown feathers with white bands.  Its bill, or beak, is long and pale in color.  Its legs and toes are short and dark.  Sometimes young great spotted kiwi look like adult little spotted kiwi.

Habitat

This bird lives in forests, scrublands, and hilly grasslands up to just below the Alpine zone.  This bird lives in three places: Nelson and North Westland, the Paparoa Mountains, and the Southern Alps.  In 2012, there were about 15,000 great spotted kiwis alive.

There used to be many more great spotted kiwi, but human beings brought dogs and stoats, which killed many.

Food

Great spotted kiwi hide during the day in a burrow, crack in rock crevice, or hollow tree. They look for food at night.  They walk on the ground and tap it with their beaks.  They use their beaks to catch earthworms, beetle larvae, and other animals without spines in the leaf litter and underground.  They live in pairs.  Adult kiwi will fight other kiwi over good places to look for food. 

Breeding

The kiwis make a nest in a hollow log, crack in a rock or space dug out of the ground.  The male and female kiwi both sit on the egg.

References

Category:Kiwis