CuriousAnimals » Kiwi http://curiousanimals.net Animals kingdom opens for you Thu, 24 May 2012 10:40:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 KIWI http://curiousanimals.net/birds/kiwi/ http://curiousanimals.net/birds/kiwi/#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:20:08 +0000 Ksena http://curiousanimals.net/birds/kiwi/ Hello my dear readers, new day has come and let me show you what I’ve found!
Probably the strangiest bird which seems so defenseless and cute…
New Zealand’s icon, the kiwi, is a biological oddity. Small, flightless, and largely nocturnal, this unusual bird holds all sorts of biological records.
It is the only bird whose nostrils open at the tip of the bill, which is 6 in. (15 cm) long, slender, and curved

Baby kiwi

The kiwi, named by the Maoris for its shrill, piping call, is most closely related to the extinct moa. It is the size of a large chicken and has short, stout legs and coarse, dark plumage that hides the rudimentary wings.
Kiwis hide during the day and forage at night for grubs and worms but their eyesight is really poor.

Cute and little kiwi

The kiwi is the symbol of New Zealand and appears on the seal, coins, stamps, and on various products of its homeland; overseas New Zealand troops are popularly called kiwis.
And one more interesting fact.
Do you know that New Zeland’s dollar is called “KIWI” on financial markets? )

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