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Evelyn Solarczyk, age 14, of Newport Beach, Calif., for her question:

CAN THE KIWI FLY?

This most remarkable bird is as big as a chicken, but his useless wings are no longer than two inches. This makes flight downright impossible, though the kiwi is quite fast on his feet. There are, of course, several flightless birds but this little oddity has so many unusual features that experts hesitate to classify him with any other members of the bird world. They suspect that he may be a surviving relative of the fabulous extinct moas birds of New Zealand.

On the beauteous islands of New Zealand there are swampy forests of fragrant pines and giant tree ferns. The lofty green boughs shut out much of the sunshine and the shadowy ground is littered with leafy debris. This is the native home of the funny little kiwi bird, though even here he is seldom seen. He is very shy and he comes forth to feed only at night, when the gloomy forest is even gloomier.

Even if you did chance to spot him, you might find it hard to believe that he is a real bird  though he looks somewhat like a strange bedraggled chicken. However, he has no tail and his puny, two inch wings are lost in a shaggy coat of feathers that look like fur. His total weight varies from three to nine pounds and his little lost wings certainly are too weak to lift him off the ground.

His oversized feet have three strong claws, used to scratch for food and enlarge his burrow. However, when it comes to finding food, his beak is more useful. It is a long thin spear, used to prod worms and juicy grubs from the ground. His menu also includes leaves and fallen fruit.

The kiwi's superkeen ears are buried under his skin. They are tuned to detect approaching visitors  in plenty of time to waddle to safety. There is some doubt as to whether a robin can smell a worm underground  but about the kiwi there is no doubt at all. In 1968, researchers proved that the odd nasal slits at the tip of his beak definitely could smell food several inches down in the ground.  The female kiwi lays one or two chalky white eggs. They are five inches long and weigh a pound. For her size she lays the largest eggs in the bird world. The male incubates the eggs for 11 long weeks. When the shaggy chicks are but a few days old, they follow their parents and learn how to forage for their own food. The kiwis are named for their call, which sounds like k WEE, k WEE.

 

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