Animal
North Island brown kiwi
The North Island brown kiwi is a round, furry-looking bird that cannot fly. It comes out at night and sniffs for worms with its long bill.
The North Island brown kiwi is a flightless bird that lives only in New Zealand's North Island. It has shaggy brown feathers, no tail, and a long bill with nostrils near the tip, so it can sniff out worms and grubs in the dark. The father keeps the huge egg warm for 75 to 90 days.
Apteryx mantelli is a nocturnal ratite endemic to New Zealand's North Island, where it forages by smell for soil invertebrates. It breeds faster than other kiwi, yet introduced predators keep many populations falling. The IUCN lists it as Vulnerable (2017); the Department of Conservation estimates about 26,000 birds and says it depends on ongoing protection.
Photo: The.Rohit, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the North Island brown kiwi
The brown kiwi is a bird that cannot fly.
Its feathers look like shaggy brown fur. It has no tail and a long, thin bill. It is New Zealand's special bird.
The North Island brown kiwi is about 40 centimeters long, and a female weighs about 2.7 kilograms and a male about 2 kilograms. It cannot fly, and it has no tail.
Its dark brown feathers are streaked with reddish brown and black, and they look more like a shaggy coat of hair than feathers. It has a long, pale bill and short legs. Kiwi are New Zealand's national icon, and brown kiwi are the kind many New Zealanders picture when they think of one.
Apteryx mantelli is a large kiwi of about 40 centimeters; New Zealand Birds Online gives weights of about 2 kilograms for males and 2.7 kilograms for females. Its spiky dark brown plumage is streaked reddish brown and black, and it has a long pale bill and short dark legs, toes and claws.
Kiwi are ratites, the group of flightless birds that also includes emus and cassowaries; the Department of Conservation notes that their closest relatives are the extinct elephant birds of Madagascar. DOC adds that kiwi have underdeveloped wing and chest muscles, which leaves them easily hurt by crushing injuries such as dog bites.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.4 m
- Weight
- 2 to 2.7 kg
Where it lives
Brown kiwi live only in New Zealand, on the North Island.
They live in forests and bushy places. In the day they sleep in a burrow or a hollow log.
North Island brown kiwi live only in New Zealand's North Island and some nearby islands. They are found in Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, the East Coast and Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and around Tongariro and Whanganui.
They live in native forest, but also in pine plantations, scrub and rough farmland. Brown kiwi live closer to people than any other kiwi, which helps community groups protect them but also brings them into contact with dogs, cats and cars.
The species is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand and some offshore islands, including Little Barrier, Kawau and Motuora in the Hauraki Gulf. DOC recognizes four genetically distinct forms: Northland, Coromandel, Western and Eastern brown kiwi. New populations have been established at sites such as Tawharanui, Maungatautari and Cape Kidnappers.
Habitat includes native and exotic forest, scrub and rough farmland. At European settlement the range was wider, especially in North Auckland and the Waikato. DOC notes that brown kiwi live closest to human settlement of all kiwi, which brings both risks and community support.
Continent
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Forest, scrub and rough farmland in the North Island of New Zealand and some offshore islands. The species does not live in the South Island.
Places: New Zealand.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in New Zealand and Australia.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
What it eats
Kiwi eat worms and bugs.
They poke their long bills into the ground to find them. They sniff them out in the dark!
Brown kiwi eat mostly small creatures that live in the soil and leaf litter, especially earthworms and the grubs of beetles, cicadas and moths. They also eat centipedes, spiders, crickets and weta, plus a little fallen fruit and some leaves.
A kiwi feeds by walking slowly and tapping the ground. When it finds something, it pushes its long bill into the leaves or a rotten log, or sometimes deep into the soil, to pull the food out.
The diet is dominated by small invertebrates, particularly earthworms and the larvae of beetles, cicadas and moths, with centipedes, spiders, crickets and weta and a small amount of fallen fruit and leaves.
Foraging is slow and methodical: the bird walks while tapping the ground, then probes into leaf litter or rotting wood, occasionally plunging the bill deep into the soil. The Smithsonian's National Zoo notes that kiwi locate prey by smell rather than sight, and that their snuffling may come from a valve behind the nostrils that keeps out dirt.
Did you know?
Dad kiwi whistle, and mum kiwi answer.
Male brown kiwi whistle 15 to 25 times in a row, and females answer with a deep, croaky call.
Males give 15 to 25 ascending whistles and females 10 to 20 lower, guttural cries; pairs often duet.
A nose on the end of its bill
A kiwi's nose holes are at the very end of its long bill.
That helps it smell food under the ground. Its eyes are small, and its ears are big.
The kiwi's long, curved bill is special: its nostrils are near the tip. The Smithsonian's National Zoo says no other bird has nostrils there. That lets a kiwi smell worms and grubs while its bill is pushed into the ground.
Kiwi have small eyes but unusually large ears. Kiwi cannot fly, and their wing and chest muscles are underdeveloped. They have short legs and sharp claws.
The long, curved bill carries the nostrils near its tip, an arrangement the Smithsonian's National Zoo describes as unique among birds; kiwi detect buried prey by smell. The eyes are small, but the ears are unusually large.
Kiwi cannot fly and have underdeveloped wing and chest muscles; DOC points out that their build leaves them vulnerable to crushing injuries such as dog bites. Short legs end in sharp claws, which New Zealand Birds Online notes are used in fights with other kiwi.
A giant egg and a busy dad
A kiwi egg is very, very big for such a small bird.
The dad keeps the egg warm for a long time. The chick hatches with feathers and finds its own food.
A kiwi egg is huge for the size of the bird: about 12 centimeters long, around 15 percent of the mother's weight. Brown kiwi lay one or two eggs at a time, and can nest once or twice a year, more often than other kiwi.
The father keeps the eggs warm by himself for 75 to 90 days. The chick hatches already covered in feathers. At about five days old it walks out of the nest to feed, and its parents never feed it. It takes three to five years to grow to full size.
DOC notes that brown kiwi breed faster than other kiwi, laying up to two eggs a clutch and one or two clutches a year. Eggs can be laid in any month, peaking from June to November, in burrows, crevices, hollow trees or logs. Each white egg averages about 124 by 80 millimeters; the Smithsonian gives an average of 15 percent of the female's body weight.
The male alone incubates for 75 to 90 days. Chicks hatch fully feathered, first leave the nest at about 5 to 7 days and are never fed by their parents. Juveniles take three to five years to reach adult size, and first breeding is typically at about 4 years.
A night bird
Kiwi sleep in the day and come out at night.
The dad kiwi whistles. The mum kiwi answers with a deep, croaky call.
Brown kiwi are nocturnal: they rest during the day in a burrow, hollow tree or log, or under thick plants, and come out soon after nightfall.
At night they call to mark their territory and keep in touch with their partner. A male gives a high whistle that rises in pitch, repeated 15 to 25 times. A female answers with a lower, croaky cry, repeated 10 to 20 times, and pairs often call back and forth in a duet.
The species is flightless and nocturnal. Birds shelter by day in burrows, hollow trees and logs or dense vegetation, and DOC notes that Northland birds use several shelters, including fallen nīkau fronds and forestry slash.
Adults are territorial and defend their ground with calls and, if needed, fights using sharp claws. Males give a high-pitched ascending whistle repeated 15 to 25 times; females a slower, lower, guttural cry repeated 10 to 20 times, and pairs often duet, one answering a few seconds after the other finishes.
Did you know?
Kiwi chicks find their own food.
Kiwi parents never feed their chicks. At about five days old, a chick walks out of the nest to find its own food.
Chicks hatch fully feathered and are never fed by their parents; they first emerge to feed at about five days old.
A treasure for New Zealand
Kiwi are very special to the people of New Zealand.
Many people work together to keep kiwi safe.
The kiwi is New Zealand's national icon, cherished by people of every background. The Department of Conservation describes the bird as a taonga, or treasure, to Māori, and kiwi feathers are woven into kiwi-feather cloaks called kahukiwi.
Today more than 90 community and iwi-led groups protect kiwi across New Zealand. Groups trap predators and care for kiwi habitat, and dogs can be trained to stay away from kiwi.
DOC describes kiwi as a national icon equally cherished by all cultures in New Zealand, and as a taonga (treasure) to Māori, whose feathers are valued for weaving kahukiwi (kiwi-feather cloaks). Because of this significance, tangata whenua are key partners in kiwi management, and some Treaty of Waitangi settlements include species recovery work.
More than 90 community and iwi-led groups protect kiwi over an estimated 230,000 hectares, a similar area to the public conservation land DOC manages for kiwi. DOC also runs kiwi aversion training for dogs and advises on kiwi-safe forest harvesting.
Did you know?
A kiwi's nose holes are at the end of its bill.
Kiwi have nostrils near the tip of their bills. The Smithsonian's National Zoo says no other bird does.
Nostrils near the bill tip, described by the Smithsonian's National Zoo as unique among birds, let kiwi find buried prey by smell.
Protecting brown kiwi
Stoats and dogs can hurt kiwi.
People catch stoats and keep their dogs on a lead. Where people do this, there are more kiwi.
The Department of Conservation estimates there are about 26,000 North Island brown kiwi. Without protection, numbers fall: stoats are the biggest danger to chicks, and dogs to adults. Without help, only about 1 in 10 chicks lives to six months old.
Where people control predators, kiwi numbers go up. On the Coromandel Peninsula the kiwi population is doubling every ten years. Some eggs and chicks are raised safely and released once they weigh about a kilogram, big enough to fight off a stoat.
The IUCN's 2017 global assessment lists Apteryx mantelli as Vulnerable, with 10,000 to 19,999 mature individuals. DOC gives a population of about 26,000 and classes it as Not Threatened (conservation dependent), warning that without ongoing support experts expect brown kiwi to be extinct in the wild within two generations.
Stoats cause about half of chick deaths on the mainland, and without management only about 10 percent of chicks survive to six months; dogs kill adults, and in Northland adult life expectancy has fallen to about 14 years. Predator control reverses declines: Coromandel kiwi are doubling every decade. Eggs and chicks are also raised in protected sites until about 1 to 1.2 kilograms.
IUCN Red List
How is the north island brown kiwi doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable (this animal)
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Vulnerable
At high risk of disappearing from the wild.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3
Amazing facts
-
A kiwi's nose holes are at the end of its bill.
Kiwi have nostrils near the tip of their bills. The Smithsonian's National Zoo says no other bird does.
Nostrils near the bill tip, described by the Smithsonian's National Zoo as unique among birds, let kiwi find buried prey by smell.
-
Kiwi chicks find their own food.
Kiwi parents never feed their chicks. At about five days old, a chick walks out of the nest to find its own food.
Chicks hatch fully feathered and are never fed by their parents; they first emerge to feed at about five days old.
-
Kiwi dads keep the eggs warm.
A brown kiwi father keeps the eggs warm for 75 to 90 days, all by himself.
Incubation, by the male alone, lasts 75 to 90 days, and eggs are left unattended during the night.
-
Dad kiwi whistle, and mum kiwi answer.
Male brown kiwi whistle 15 to 25 times in a row, and females answer with a deep, croaky call.
Males give 15 to 25 ascending whistles and females 10 to 20 lower, guttural cries; pairs often duet.
Words to know
- nocturnal
- active at night and resting during the day
- flightless
- not able to fly
- ratite
- a group of flightless birds that includes kiwi, emus and cassowaries
- incubate
- to keep an egg warm until it hatches
- predator
- an animal that hunts and eats other animals
- taonga
- a Māori word for something treasured
Discovery challenge
-
Where are a kiwi's nose holes?
Where are a kiwi's nostrils?
Where on the kiwi's head are its nostrils found?
- Near the tip of its bill
- On top of its head
- Next to its eyes
Show the answer
Near the tip of its bill
They are near the tip of its long bill.
Its nostrils are near the bill tip, so it can smell food in the soil.
Near the tip of the bill, an arrangement described as unique among birds.
-
When are brown kiwi awake?
At what time of day are brown kiwi most active?
What is the brown kiwi's daily activity pattern?
- In the daytime
- At night
- Only at noon
Show the answer
At night
They sleep in the day and come out at night.
They are nocturnal: they rest by day and feed at night.
They are nocturnal, sheltering by day and emerging shortly after nightfall.
-
Who keeps the kiwi egg warm?
Which parent keeps a brown kiwi egg warm?
Which parent incubates North Island brown kiwi eggs?
- The mother
- The father
- Neither
Show the answer
The father
The dad keeps the egg warm.
The father keeps the eggs warm for 75 to 90 days.
Incubation is by the male only, for 75 to 90 days.
-
What do kiwi like to eat?
What do brown kiwi mostly eat?
Which food makes up most of the brown kiwi's diet?
- Worms and grubs
- Fish
- Grass
Show the answer
Worms and grubs
They eat worms and bugs from the ground.
They eat mostly earthworms and the grubs of beetles, cicadas and moths.
Mainly small invertebrates, especially earthworms and insect larvae, with a little fruit and leaves.
Places where you might see it
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how the brown kiwi finds food by smell at night.
- Explain the kiwi's life cycle, including the huge egg and the father's role.
- Explain how introduced predators affect kiwi and how predator control helps.
- Recognize the kiwi's importance to people in New Zealand.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might smell be more useful than sight for a bird that feeds at night?
- Why could a dog that is only playing still hurt a kiwi?
- What might it be like to be a chick that has to find its own food at five days old?
Try at home or in class
- Hide a few strong-smelling things (like an orange peel) under cloths and try to find them by smell alone, like a kiwi.
- Measure 12 centimeters on paper and draw a kiwi egg, then compare it with a chicken egg from the kitchen.
Key vocabulary: nocturnal, flightless, ratite, incubate, predator, taonga
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Apteryx mantelli (North Island Brown Kiwi), Red List global assessment 2017 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Brown kiwi , New Zealand Department of Conservation
- Kiwi facts , New Zealand Department of Conservation
- North Island brown kiwi | Kiwi-nui , New Zealand Birds Online (Te Papa)
- North Island brown kiwi , Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.