Kiwi Sanctuary (the bird not the fruit)

This morning I went to the Kiwi Sanctuary which is a 5 acre family owned sanctuary for native New Zealand birds. I saw many birds today including the brilliant and mischievous kea.

The Kiwi experience was a bit underwhelming. Kiwis are nocturnal and they don't like to be disturbed. The opportunity is to walk through this dark room that on each side has glassed in natural habitat staged where the kiwi live. I could barely see anything but I did see what appeared to be a tan colored chicken looking but running back and forth side to side along the back wall.

What was impressive was hearing about the egg that a kiwi grows and lays. This egg is huge and weighs a lot too. See the picture. Equivalently, it would be like a human giving birth to a 38 pound baby. Once the egg is laid, the male partner sits on the egg for three months until it hatches.

The kiwi's nostrils are at the end of the long beak, and the kiwi has tiny little wings that are tucked under the fur. The bird doesn't fly though; wings too small.

The reason New Zealand is so much into getting rid of the land predators is because already half of New Zealand's native species are extinct and 80% of the ones that remain are endangered. The plan is to eradicate all rats, possum, rabbit, stoat, ferrets by 2050.Read more