Great Spotted Kiwi


What does the Great Spotted Kiwi eat?

Great Spotted Kiwis, or Apteryx haastii, are nocturnal, so they so most of their hunting at night. Usually, they start hunting as early as thrity minutes after sunset.

Great Spotted Kiwis are omnivorous. Some common organisms that they typically eat are insects, snails, spiders, earthworms, crayfish, and fallen fruits and berries. They also sometimes eat shoots and leafy material because they are easily found on the ground.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Regenwurm1.jpg         picture of crayfish

The nostrils at the ends of their long beaks help tremendously when it comes to acquiring food. The beaks are ultra-senstive, so the Great Spotted Kiwi taps it on the ground and sniffs while walking through the brush. To catch their prey, the bird then pokes it's beak into the ground and grabs it.

When picking up pieces of food, Great Spotted Kiwis often also pick up and swallow small stones. These stones stay in the birds' gizzard, which is the first part of the kiwis' digestive system. These small stones help the digestion process by grinding the fiborus food that the Kiwi eats.

Great Spotted Kiwis are in they phylum Chordata. One aspect of this phylum is that they have a complete digestive tract. This means that the food goes in through one opening (the mouth) and goes out a different opening (the anus).

They have a circulatory system. Like all birds, they have a 4-chambered heart with 2 circuits. They breath through the lungs, which are very complex. Along with having lungs, they also have a number of air sacs, which are connected to the trachea and lungs. When they inhale, the air goes in thoguh the mouth, down the trachea, and into the posterior air sacs. The air in the lungs moves into the anterior air sacs. When they exhale, the stale air is released through the mouth. The fresh air in the posterior air sacs moves into the lungs.


Questions or comments? Contact me at reiland.lian@students.uwlax.edu
Last updated April 25th, 2008