You might know that New Zealanders refer to themselves as Kiwis. And,
of course, they're famous for their Kiwifruit. But Kiwi is really the name of
a large flightless bird, native only to New Zealand. Since much of what is in
New Zealand is not actually native to New Zealand, that is - much of what is in
New Zealand (both plant and animal) was brought in from elsewhere, the Kiwis
have become endangered by the mammals that have been introduced there. These
include ferrets, possums, and even people's pet dogs and cats.
But Kiwis
are pretty interesting little creatures. The female lays the largest egg
relative to body size of any bird. In fact, during the gestation period, the
egg takes up such a large fraction of the body cavity of the female, she has
difficulty eating. During the last days of gestation, she does not eat at all
and nearly starves as a consequence. After
she lays the egg, the male
incubates it. The incubation period for the Kiwi egg is very long and during
the last days, the male does not leave the egg. As a result, the male doesn't
eat for many days and nearly
starves before the egg is hatched. After all of this sacrifice by the parents,
it's ironic that once the
chick is born, it is practically self-sufficient and is given little care by
the parents. Just one more unusual fact about the Kiwi egg itself - it has one
of the
largest ratios of yoke to white of any bird egg. If you'd like to know more, see
About Kiwis.
Because the Kiwi is endangered, the Kiwis (er...the New Zealanders) go to
great length to protect the few that are left and are trying very hard to
save the species - including road signs. You can already tell from this
sign that they're funny looking little birds.
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These guys are rare enough that whenever there's a chance to photograph
one, I'll take it. Unfortunately, they're not only rare but also nocturnal
so they're both hard to find and difficult to photograph.
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Here's a slightly better shot of a Kiwi. Well, ok, still not a good shot.
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Seeing seals in the zoo isn't very exciting. Seeing them in their natural
habitat is far better. These were along the coast near Westport on the south
island.
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It's breeding season for the seals. The females and pups just lulled on the
rocks along the ocean shore.
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