Su adaptacin a la vida terrestre es extensiva: como todas las

ratites, no tienen quilla en el esternn para anclar los

msculos de las alas, y casi ni alas siquiera: los vestigios son
tan pequeos que son invisibles bajo su plumaje o que carece
de rmiges y timoneras. Este plumaje es tpico del ave en
cuestin. Se dira que, por razones evolutivas y de adaptacin
al ecosistema, los plumones no han llegado a la etapa de
verdaderas plumas, adoptando el caracterstico aspecto de
suaves cerdas que tiene el plumaje del kiwi. Mientras que
generalmente los pjaros tienen huesos ahuecados para
ahorrar peso y hacer el vuelo ms prctico, el kiwi tiene
mdula, al igual que los mamferos.

Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus

Apteryx and family Apterygidae.
At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the
smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to
their body size of any species of bird in the world.[2] There are
five recognised species, all of which are endangered; all
species have been adversely affected by historic deforestation
but currently large areas of their forest habitat are well
protected in reserves and national parks. At present, the
greatest threat to their survival is predation by invasive
mammalian predators.
The kiwi is a national symbol of New Zealand indeed, the
association is so strong that the term Kiwi is used, all over the
world, as the colloquial demonym for New Zealanders.