Thursday, August 28, 2014

Kiwi Birdlife Park







Mom and I had a tour of Kiwi Birdlife Park. You may be interested to know that there are no mammals native to New Zealand. Only birds inhabited New Zealand before people arrived. The birds thrived on New Zealand before man. Then humans brought predators like rats, ferrets, possums and other such animals, and life became more treacherous for the birds. This is especially true for the kiwi, which is a wingless bird. The kiwi is the national symbol of New Zealand, and they are protected in nature preserves like this one because their numbers have become so small that they are threatened with extinction. Kiwis are nocturnal, so we viewed them in their habitat under infrared lights and were not able to take photographs, however it was the highlight of our day. Kiwis are large (like roosters) and fat. They have wings but they are so small as to be virtually invisible and totally useless. After viewing the kiwis, we were treated to a tour of other native bird life, which you'll see featured in the pictures above.

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