Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE KIWIS, OR WINGLESS BIRDS OF NEW ZEALAND

Kiwi Behaviour

Though apparently insensible to pain when attacked by a dog, they are naturally very timid. If the moon is bright, their own shadow will sometimes cause them uneasiness; indeed, I have seen one make a kick at its own shadow on the ground, accompanied by that peculiar hissing sound they make when confined in a pen.

I have noticed also that a smaller bird will run as hard as his legs will carry him at the least show of anger from a larger and stronger one. By imitating their cry — the deep rasping one being the most successful — I have always had the clear, shrill one in response.

If in the close neighborhood, I would then send in the dog, and it would always turn out to be the male. With this bird the ordinary relationship between the sexes appears to be reversed; for instance, it is the female that undertakes the defense of the house and home, for the male gives in after a very slight struggle; but the male is the faster runner of the two.

After the young is big enough to follow its parents the male (not the female) seems to take special charge of it.

The male has a high, shrill cry; the female utters a low, hoarse note — between a cry and a hiss. Although a nocturnal bird, its sight is weak even at night, for I have seen them running against objects that could easily be avoided; but their hearing and sense of smell are very acute. By going against the wind I have got to within ten feet of them and seen them feeding. They do not confine themselves to worms, but will also take any kind of vegetable matter available; for example, the young shoots of a very common alpine orchid. I have found three different kinds of seed and a small white berry in the stomachs of those I have opened."

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