Kiwi Writing

New Zealand's Native Kiwi Bird 

I am learning to inform my audience using an information report

What's brown, soft, and native bird to New Zealand? Yes, you guessed it

 the Kiwi bird! The Kiwi is a flightless bird and it just so happens to be 

one of New Zealand's native birds. Did you know that the female kiwi 

is heavier than the male kiwi, and the size of the kiwi egg is about 6

 times the size of a chickens egg! The closest relatives to the kiwi 

today is the Elephant bird from Madagascar, Emus, and the

 Cassowaries of Australia. Kiwis are one of the smallest and 

rarest birds in New Zealand. Most people think there is only one

 Kiwi specie, but actually there are 5 different species. The Great 

Spotted Kiwi, Little Spotted Kiwi, North Island Brown Kiwi, 

Okarito Kiwi, and the Southern Brown Kiwi. In order to 

understand the kiwi we need to explore the importance of

 their diet, their habitat and take a look at the population of the kiwi.


Diet: Kiwis have a wide range of food that they like to munch

 on such as, worms, grubs, bugs, berries, and seeds that they

 find. Did you know Kiwis are the only birds that have nostrils 

at the end of their beaks so they can sense food from far away. 

 They also may eat fruit, small crayfish, eels, and small amphibians. 

Kiwis have a highly developed sense of smell, unusual in a bird.

 For a kiwi to survive they need to have food and water, that can 

be provided in their habitat. 

Habitat: Where do Kiwis live? Well kiwis can be found throughout

 New Zealand, across the North Island and South Island, right down

 to Stewart Island. Kiwis prefer natural habitats and would not make

 a good house pet. Kiwis don't require a pristine habitat but prefer

 the native forests of New Zealand. They can be found in scrub

 and rough farmland, exotic plantation, sand dunes, and snowy

 tussocks. Kiwis live in a huge range of habitats. However not

 every habitat is safe for the kiwi this leads us into the predators

 of the kiwi.


Predators: There are many threats to the kiwi as their habitats

 are on the forest floor. Some of these threats include stoats,

 cats, wild pigs, dogs and ferrets. At one point there was an

 average of 27 kiwis killed every week! That impacted on the

 population of the kiwi with around 1,400 kiwis dying every

 year. At this rate kiwis may disappear in our lifetime. A single

 roaming stray could take away an entire kiwi population in a 

matter of days. Luckily there are Kiwi sanctuaries where 

kiwis go and get protected from predators.

In conclusion Kiwis may disappear in our lifetime with the way

 where heading. But with Kiwi sanctuaries, and if we all set our 

minds to it we can all help save The Kiwi, and keep them for a

 long, long time. To do this we need to keep them in their natural 

habitat, have food and water and keeping them far away from

 predators. I hope we will all save the Kiwi so that future 

generations will know and love our national bird.