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With its long decurved bill and brown body, the curlew resembles the kiwi. So when the first Polynesian settlers arrived, they may have applied the word kiwi to the newfound bird. [11] The bird's name is spelled with a lower-case k and, being a word of Māori origin, normally stays as kiwi when pluralised. [12] [failed verification]
The southern brown kiwi, like all kiwi, has two functioning ovaries, however only the left oviduct functions, allowing eggs from both ovaries to pass through. It is a monogamous species and once paired up, they will defend their territories with warning calls. The size of their territory is between 4.9 and 43 hectares (12 and 106 acres).
The Okarito kiwi is a monotypic species, i.e. there are no recognised subspecies. [4] The genus name Apteryx stems from the Greek "without wings". [6] Originally assumed to be the same species as the Southern brown kiwi A. australis, DNA testing shows that the possible split off from this species was 8.2 million years ago, and the split from their closest relatives, the Northern Island brown ...
The North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli; Apteryx australis or Apteryx bulleri [5] as before 2000, still used in some sources) is a species of kiwi that is widespread in the northern two-thirds of the North Island of New Zealand and, with about 35,000 remaining, [2] it is the most common kiwi species. The eggs laid by the North Island ...
The Stewart Island tokoeka is the largest type of southern brown kiwi. It has red-brown feathers that resemble fur. It has small wings and a long, curved bill. [2] The nostrils are at the end of the bill, not at the top near the rest of its face. Experts think the kiwi can smell very well. [4]
Conservationists have discovered two kiwi chicks in Wellington, the first wild births for the bird in the New Zealand capital in over 150 years.
Kiwi are placed in the ratite family, which also includes the emu, ostrich, rhea, [7] and cassowary, as well as the extinct moa of New Zealand and elephant birds of Madagascar. All ratites are flightless. [8] While it was long presumed that kiwi were closely related to moa, recent DNA research identified elephant birds as kiwi's closest relatives.
Kiwi are notable for laying eggs that are very large in relation to their body size. A kiwi egg may equal 15 to 20 percent of the body mass of a female kiwi. The smallest species of kiwi is the little spotted kiwi, at 0.9 to 1.9 kilograms (2.0–4.2 lb) and 35 to 45 centimetres (14–18 in). [18]