Kiwi bird genome sequenced

Its unusual biological characteristics make the flightless kiwi a unique kind of bird. Researchers of the University of Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have now sequenced ...

Ancient DNA ends Aussie claim to kiwi origins

Australia can no longer lay claim to the origins of the iconic New Zealand kiwi following University of Adelaide research published in the journal Science today showing the kiwi's closest relative is not the emu as was previously ...

Kiwi birds younger than originally thought, research shows

New Zealand's kiwi may be one of the world's oddest birds – flightless, nocturnal, an enigmatic dirt digger with nostrils at the end of its long bill. But the national symbol also has a lot to tell the world about evolution ...

Rare white kiwi chick hatches at NZ wildlife park

A rare white kiwi chick hatched at a New Zealand wildlife reserve will have a protected early life - unlike wild kiwis that face nonnative predators that are slowly wiping them out, an official said Thursday.

DNA suggests Moa once flew

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research indicates the moa may not always have been flightless.

New Zealand opens first 'kiwi hospital' for injured birds

New Zealand on Friday opened its first hospital exclusively treating kiwi birds, and vets have already nursed the first patient back to health—a chick nicknamed "Splash" that tumbled into a swimming pool.

page 1 from 3

Kiwi

Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae.

At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world. There are five recognised species, all of which are endangered; all species have been adversely affected by historic deforestation but currently large areas of their forest habitat are well protected in reserves and national parks. At present, the greatest threat to their survival is predation by invasive mammalian predators.

The kiwi is a national symbol of New Zealand, and the association is so strong that the term Kiwi is used all over the world as the colloquial demonym for New Zealanders.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA