-Originally it was thought that The Kiwi's came from its call, a kind of 'Creech' sound, but it is actually from the Polynesian name for the Bristled- Thighed Curlew, the Kivi. This bird has the same way of feeding as the Kiwi.
-It has very strong legs for burrowing and ripping apart vegetation. These are very different than other birds legs and more like mammals - even with bone marrow.
-The Kiwi cannot fly and live in burrows on the ground with quite a large wandering range. Then can travel up to 1 km in a night.
-Its diet is mainly worms, spiders, bugs, grubs and fruit. Captive bred Kiwi's are fed ox hearts.
-A Kiwi's egg is large compared with the size of its body (An egg averages 20% of the females weight, compared to 2% for an Ostrich).
-The female is larger than the male. In some varieties, mainly the North Island Brown, the males are the ones that sit on the egg.
-Kiwi's have a good sense of smell and have nostrils on the end of their beak, the only bird to have this. The snuffling noise they make is them trying to smell for their food.
-The Kiwi belongs to a group of birds called Ratities of which is the smallest member. This group includes some of the worlds biggest birds like the Emu, Ostrich, as well the extinct Moa and the Elephant Birds of Madagascar. Ratities have a different bone structure than most birds, with less developed flight muscles.
-It has an average body temperature of 38 degrees C, which is 2 degrees lower than other birds and two degrees higher than humans. It is very similar to other small mammals.
Kiwi's are more like mammals than birds, which makes them unique and special.
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