kiwi kiwi kiwi

In Aotearoa New Zealand where the five kiwi species are endemic, kiwi are not called kiwi birds - they are just called kiwi. The fruit is called kiwifruit (a name that originated in Aotearoa from commercial producers of the Chinese gooseberry).

Here are the te reo Māori names, which are increasingly the more common names used rather than the colonial English ones (especially tokoeka and rowi):

Kiwi-nui = North Island brown kiwi. Kiwi-nui means "big/large kiwi". Found in Te Ika a Māui/the North Island.

Rowi = Ōkārito kiwi. Rowi were originally thought to be tokoeka but were designated a new species in 2003. Our rarest species (though the Haast tokoeka form is equally endangered). Found naturally only in the Ōkārito forest area in Te Tai Poutini/West Coast of Te Waipounamu/the South Island.

Tokoeka (or tokoweka) = Southern brown kiwi. Tokoeka means "weka with a walking stick". Three genetically distinct populations - Haast, Fiordland, and Rakiura. Rakiura tokoeka are weird in that you will often see them out in the daylight!

Kiwi-pukupuku = little spotted kiwi. Our smallest kiwi species, recently a wild population was rediscovered after kiwi-pukupuku were thought extinct in the wild for ~50 years! Incredibly exciting news for genetic diversity.

EXPLANATIONS:

Hoatzin

- they eat exclusively plants, and they have the digestive system of a cow. they have specialized bacteria in the front part of the gut that break-down and ferment the foliar material they consume, which produces methane that they expel by burping. they smell like actual cow shit (sometimes called "stinkbirds"). the babies (which are SO fucked up looking btw) have claws on their wings they use to climb trees. the nests are built on branches hanging over water, so when the babies are threatened, they leap down into the water and then use their wing claws to climb back up into the nest. they're like dinosaurs.

- This bird, known as the Hoatzin, is very odd. It's babies have claws on its wings when they're little because it helps them climb. And the claws eventually disappear, but it's still very interesting. Another thing! It's sometimes called a stinkbird because the food they eat starts to ferment during digestion. This causes them to smell! Really bad! They're interesting birds.

Kiwi

- Weird feather texture that lowkey resembles fur

- Closest relatives were elephant birds which is wild considering the size and the geographical space between these two

- They have nostrils at the end of their beak when most birds have them at the base

- also they have whiskers

- While most other birds have terrible smell and rely on eyesight, kiwi rely primarily on smell. Having terrible eyesight by bird standards (or being blind in some cases) does not negatively affect them.

- They have the largest eggs proportionate to body size.

- Despite the genus name they still have wings- which are just really really tiny. These wings have claws on them.

EXPLANATIONS:

Behold

[ID: an illustration of a fluffy brown kiwi bird facing to the left. The background is green with a pattern like the inside of a kiwi fruit. End.]

YOU GET A PICTURE OF THIS!!!!

Stewart Island Southern Brown Kiwi (Apteryx australis lawryi), family Apterygidae, order Apterygiformes, is from Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand

ENDANGERED. (Only 20,000 individuals remain in the wild)

AKA Stewart Island Tokoeka

Flightless bird.

Unlike other kiwis, they are actually more diurnal (other kiwis are mainly nocturnal).

This kiwi subspecies often feeds on the beach, which is a rare activity for most other kiwis.