This Week's Animal (3)

   
                               Category:
                   I'm a bird not a war plane.
                               The Kiwi

       

                
                                                                                                
   Habitat:
   New Zealand                             Kiwi are about the size of a  
                                                   
   Threats:                                           domestic chicken.
   Stoats
   Dogs
   Ferrets                                         Endangerment level:
   Cats                                Least concern, vulnerable, vulnerable,
   Habitat loss                        endangered, critically endangered
   Motor vehicle strike 
   Inbreeding                       

   Diet:

   Seeds
   Worms    
   Small invertebrates                              

   Fruits
   Eels
   Grubs
   Amphibians  
   
   Reproduction and Life-Cycle
   Kiwis' breading season starts in June (New Zealand's winter) and lasts till March. Kiwi dig a hole for the egg quite a few months before they lay it (usually before they even mate). A female kiwi lays an egg about three weeks after mating. During the 70-80 days that the baby kiwi is in the egg both the parent kiwi incubate it, then it fully incubated. It takes up to 3 days for the egg to hatch after the incubation process is finished. 
   When the chick hatches its eyes are open and will feed on the yolk of the egg for a few days. While it is feeding on the yolk it also eats twigs and small pebbles to help digestion when it begins to eat real food. When a chick is around 3-6 weeks old it leaves its parents' territory to find its own. Then it starts all over again.

   Freaky Facts:
   Kiwi females don't eat when they are pregnant because they don't have enough room in their stomach. 
                                           

           Kiwi eggs are nearly the size of ostrich eggs!
Kiwi use there long wobbly beaks to
dig through soil and get grubs.
A kiwi egg takes up 15-20% of the
 weight of the mother carrying it. 95% of young kiwi are killed before they reach maturity.

NOTE: Please vote for what you think of this animal at the very bottom of the screen. I would very much appreciate it.