I want to tell you today about kiwi, which live in New Zealand, the feature of which is the lack of full wings and the presence of feathers, reminiscent of wool.
These birds appeared in New Zealand more than 40 million years ago. Maori, the indigenous population of the island of New Zealand, often mimicked the sounds of birds, their twitter, which sounded like "cue-vi-ki-vi". And thanks to such an onomatopoeia of people, this unique bird was given such a name ...
Kiwi bird is small, its growth reaches more than 25 centimeters, and weight about 2 kilograms.
The body of a bird is somewhat like a pear, while the bird's head is very small and connected to the body with a small neck, but the kiwi is surprisingly long (as much as 12 centimeters) and a sharp beak. In addition, it is also flexible, and slightly curved. But what is most surprising is the location of the nostrils, which the kiwi is not at the base of the beak, but at its very tip.
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But by smell, kiwi is in the leading position among all the birds on the planet, and with hearing they are all excellent.
Many people think that kiwi does not have wings, but there are still small, undeveloped, rudimentary wings, although their length is not more than 5 centimeters, and with a superficial examination they simply can not be seen.
Kiwi also has such small sensitive tendrils, called vibrissae, which you will not find in any other bird.
These rare birds lead only a nocturnal life, and spend most of their time on the production of food and the construction of new shelters. They do not live in nests, like many birds of the earth, but in burrows.
And they eat very strange. They rake the earth with their powerful feet, then immerse their long beak there and literally sniff out a treat for themselves. So they extract worms and other insects that are found in the soil.
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It's interesting to watch kiwis, they are very bright, mobile, and even a little sorry for them, they probably want to fly, see the world from a bird's eye view, but fate has not given them such an opportunity, and they are forced to look for other ways ...
