Awesome Nature #24

Kiwi
Type: Bird  Lives In: New Zealand  Conservation Status: Vulnerable

There are many awesome animals in the world but the kiwi is one I keept forgetting about, then when I'm reminded of it I wonder why. They do of course only live in New Zealand which could be one reason why, but there are, surprisingly, five distinct species of them there. They look pretty similar of course, and they are a bit bigger than I'd realised (similar in size to chickens) but are still far smaller than most other members of their family (ratites) such as ostriches, emus and rheas. In fact, their closest relative is the now-extinct Elephant Bird. They are cute little fuzzballs in any case, who spend mostly-nighttimes scrummaging around forest floors looking for seeds, insects, worms and fruits to eat, and they have a remarkable nose located at the end of their long, slightly curved beaks with which to find these things. They have several other rather strange characteristics too, most likely due to how isolated they were for much of their existence. I'm not sure my behind could handle the amazingly-long flight needed to catch sight of one of these flightless flappers in person but I sure would like to bear witness to one. I wonder if they would let me pick them up? Very reluctantly, I'd say, judging by the end of this short National Geographic video I saw!

Why It Is Awesome: It's a fuzzy brown sphere with a beak!