Canucks → Kiwis: Kiwis are big!

Today we saw kiwi birds! Not in the wild...they are nocturnal and very shy, so the chances of seeing on in the wild is very slim. But the Kiwi House in Whangarei has 2 kiwi birds in their sanctuary that the public can see. It was awesome! We also saw owls, geckos, and an the Whangarei museum and heritage park. But the kiwi birds were the best (and the geckos were pretty cool too) :)

The kiwis were very shy and hid in their burrow when we arrived. But soon they ventured out again to poke for food with their long beaks. The female kiwi was picking on the male kiwi (I guess it's mating season) and pulled out some of his feathers, making him run away to hide in the burrow. It was pretty funny to see :) They can move really fast, they have quite powerful legs.

Interesting facts we learned about kiwis. This was all from the guide, so hopefully I've remembered it correctly. You can fact check on wikipedia

Kiwis are much bigger than we expected. We were picturing a bird about the side of a baseball, turns out they are more the size of a volleyball!
Kiwis mate for life
The female kiwi lays an egg that is way bigger that I would have though possible. To manage this kiwis have no breastbone - so the internal organs can squish all up to the front of the kiwi while the egg is growing. The kiwi has the largest egg to parent size ratio of any bird in the world.
The female kiwi will lay 1 or 2 eggs every year (a monthish apart)
The male kiwi looks after the egg for about 3 months without food. The female kiwi must be out feeding during this time to replenish herself after the egg laying.
The kiwi chick only spends a couple of days with the parents when it hatches. This is why the egg is so big - the chick must fend for itself soon after it hatches.
Kiwis are very fragile and can be easily harmed
Kiwis used to have no natural predators, but the introduction of stoats, ferrets, cats. dogs, etc and the destruction of their habitat has made them endangered.
Kiwis will live naturally up to 50 years, but the average age of one in the wild is 12 years
Kiwis are in the same family as emus and ostriches
Kiwis use their long beak to poke around for insects and worms in the ground. The beak can sense subtle vibrations in the ground to help the kiwi find food.
The kiwi is the only bird with nostrils at the end of it's beak

Cook gecko climbing around the leaves

I can make it!

Kiwi bird! They were surprisingly active

Scott likes the kiwis! Not the greatest picture (no flash allowed and it was quite dark in there for the nocturnal kiwis) , but good for size comparison