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August 9th, 2007
A Taste of Kiwi

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about KIWIS

1. A kiwi is a flightless bird native to New Zealand.

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2. The kiwi is a New Zealand icon.

3. Kiwis are shy and nocturnal birds. I have never seen a kiwi in the wild.

4. New Zealanders are affectionately known as kiwis. I am a kiwi. I am shy but I buck the trend cause I’m more of a morning person!

5. A kiwi is around the size of a chicken and is an endangered species. The Auckland zoo runs a captive breeding program where the birds are released back into the wild.

6. The Bank of New Zealand raises money to help with kiwi conservation and awareness.

7. Kiwis are creatures with a highly developed sense of smell, most unusual in a bird, and are the only birds with nostrils at the end of their long bill. Kiwi eat small invertebrates, seeds, grubs, and many varieties of worms. They also may eat fruit, small crayfish, eels and amphibians. Unlike other birds, the kiwi can locate insects and worms underground without actually seeing or feeling them. This is due to their long beaks, with nostrils at the end of them. As the length of a birds beak is measured from the tip of the beak to the nostril, the Kiwi has the shortest beak of any bird.

8. After an initial meeting during mating season (March to June), kiwi usually live as monogamous couples. The pair will meet in the nesting burrow every few days and call to each other at night. These relationships have been known to last for up to 20 years.

9. Kiwi eggs can weigh up to one quarter the weight of the female. Usually only one egg is laid. Although the kiwi is about the size of a domestic chicken, it is able to lay eggs that are up to ten times larger than a chicken’s egg.

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10. New Zealand troops awaiting repatriation after World War 1 carved a huge kiwi shape into the chalk ground at Bulford on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. It’s still visible and is currently maintained by the Ministry of Defence.

11. You can send a kiwi e-card to your friends. See here

12.

Here’s a cool animated cartoon about a kiwi, which was done as a thesis. Remember – kiwis are usually flightless.

13. Last week on our favorite local TV show, Outrageous Fortune, one of the characters died. The actress is going to Australia to act in an Australian soap. But when she died, right at the end of the show, they played the Goodnight Kiwi song. It was heart wrenching for all the viewers.

Before 24 hour TV came to New Zealalnd the Goodnight Kiwi cartoon signalled the end of nightly broadcasts. The last airing of this animation was in 1994. Today the characters are regarded as icons of New Zealand culture. Note from Shell – I’m not showing my age – really I’m not!

Here’s the Goodnight Kiwi cartoon that many New Zealanders remember with great fondess. If you slept through this you were likely to wake up to lots of white screen and a horrid hissing sound from the TV.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Related posts:

  1. Give ‘em a Taste of Kiwi Wine
  2. Kiwi Fruit: It’s More Than a Pavlova Topping
  3. Special Guests Visiting Taste of Kiwi…
  4. Kiwi Romance Authors
  5. A Taste of Honey

39 comments to “A Taste of Kiwi”

  1. burntofferings
    August 9th, 2007 at 12:21 am · Link

    When we were, “across the pond” last year, we didn’t get to see one of these… Never mind, we are going back again in November…

    Our list is up as well, so cross the Tasman, and check us out!!



  2. Heather
    August 9th, 2007 at 12:35 am · Link

    Neat post, Shelley!



  3. Lanie
    August 9th, 2007 at 12:47 am · Link

    Awh. Kiwi’s are cute!

    Someday I want to visit NZ and Australia to see your native animals.

    P.S. Can you ship me a koala?



  4. Robin L. Rotham
    August 9th, 2007 at 12:47 am · Link

    Cripes! Kiwi eggs can weigh up to one quarter the weight of the female. That would be like me giving birth to a 50 lb. baby! No wonder they only lay one egg — I’d go on strike after that first one, too!



  5. Grace
    August 9th, 2007 at 2:25 am · Link

    Thanks for the loads of info about kiwis! I am new to your blog and would read more after this comment.



  6. Jennifer Shirk
    August 9th, 2007 at 4:14 am · Link

    They’re really cute. Interesting TT. I’d never heard of those birds before. :)



  7. Susan Helene Gottfried
    August 9th, 2007 at 4:36 am · Link

    VERY neat stuff. I’m now a kiwi fan (and glad they’re not green, too. I think the fruit sticks in my head and I always expect the bird to be green. Time to get over that!).



  8. Tempest Knight
    August 9th, 2007 at 4:48 am · Link

    OMG! That’s a kiwi? I’ve heard of them but never seen a pic before. How cute! I want one! hehehe!



  9. Christine d'Abo
    August 9th, 2007 at 4:52 am · Link

    OMG The animated Kiwi was so cute! Visiting NZ is on my list of things to do before I die. Great list Shelley!



  10. rhian
    August 9th, 2007 at 4:54 am · Link

    you know – Kiwis prove that the Creative Powers the Be have a sense of humor. Damn adorable!



  11. Gina Ardito
    August 9th, 2007 at 4:55 am · Link

    OMG! When I visited friends in San Diego, one of them kept insisting we had to go to the zoo to see the kiwis. He harped on them forever until I finally went with him…into this dark room where all I saw was shadows of teeny birds hopping around. Thanks for the memory!



  12. Sara Thacker
    August 9th, 2007 at 5:00 am · Link

    Kiwi’s are cute. I remember going to New Zealand and hearing about them.



  13. Lesley Speller
    August 9th, 2007 at 5:34 am · Link

    awwwwwwwwwwwww I love Kiwis!! The one where he jumps to his death is more than a little disturbing though!! I kept thinking we were going to see him alive!



  14. Adelle Laudan
    August 9th, 2007 at 5:40 am · Link

    I loved reading all this. Great T13!



  15. Elle Fredrix
    August 9th, 2007 at 5:58 am · Link

    Wow, thanks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture of a kiwi before.



  16. Joely
    August 9th, 2007 at 6:13 am · Link

    What a cool list. I was expecting things about fruit, but what a cute little bird!



  17. Lisa Andel
    August 9th, 2007 at 6:27 am · Link

    Number seven cracks me up.
    The kiwi movie was bittersweet.
    The goodnight kiwi? Cute, but I know you have to live there to get the full impact.

    Happy TTing!



  18. Debbie Mumford
    August 9th, 2007 at 6:31 am · Link

    Wonderful! And such great pictures.

    Love it!



  19. Alyssa Goodnight
    August 9th, 2007 at 6:42 am · Link

    How very sentimental! Those kiwis sure are cute little guys!



  20. Ember
    August 9th, 2007 at 6:44 am · Link

    So cute! I wish NZ weren’t so far away, and so expensive to visit – I’d love to see these in person someday.



  21. N.J. Walters
    August 9th, 2007 at 6:48 am · Link

    They’re fascinating little birds!



  22. Amy Ruttan
    August 9th, 2007 at 7:30 am · Link

    Very cool about Kiwi. My grandfather (highly misinformed) used to tell me that kiwis stuck their heads in the ground and talked out their bums. NOT New Zealanders, he was talking about the animal and to an 8 year old naive child like me I thought it was hilarious.

    Great TT!!



  23. Daisy Dexter Dobbs
    August 9th, 2007 at 7:53 am · Link

    What a fascinating list, Shelley! And what interesting and amazing little creatures kiwis are. Thanks for a a great read!



  24. Cat Marsters
    August 9th, 2007 at 7:56 am · Link

    Cool beans! I actually knew the one about them having the shortest beak. What a stupid way of measuring them though!

    Kiwis are adorable. That’s it, I shall have to come to NZ to see one {g}



  25. Rhonda
    August 9th, 2007 at 7:57 am · Link

    Holy crap, that was a LOT of awesome info…thanks for sharing!!!



  26. LA Day
    August 9th, 2007 at 8:09 am · Link

    Aren’t they adorable? I thought Kiwi was a fruit.



  27. Paige Tyler
    August 9th, 2007 at 8:12 am · Link

    What a cool list! They’re soooo cute!

    *hugs*
    Paige

    My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/



  28. Ann
    August 9th, 2007 at 8:26 am · Link

    Very cool list, NZ is definitely on my list of places to go. Great pictures.



  29. Jenna Bayley-Burke
    August 9th, 2007 at 9:00 am · Link

    And I thought my kids were cool for having a stuffed echidna.



  30. Ava Rose Johnson
    August 9th, 2007 at 9:15 am · Link

    Finally I know what a non-fruit kiwi looks like. Great TT Shelley



  31. Nicole Austin
    August 9th, 2007 at 10:02 am · Link

    They are kinda cute, but it would suck to be a bird and not be able to fly. LOL!

    Happy TT!



  32. Thomma Lyn
    August 9th, 2007 at 10:15 am · Link

    Awwww, the kiwi is so cute, and I loved learning about them — such fascinating facts! And New Zealand sounds like such a wonderful place; I’d love to visit someday.

    Happy TT and thanks for visiting mine!



  33. Emma Petersen
    August 9th, 2007 at 10:15 am · Link

    Awwwe. What an adorable little critter! I know know 13 things about kiwis I didnt know before! Thanks Shelley! Happy TT!



  34. Amelia June
    August 9th, 2007 at 11:19 am · Link

    MM, kiwi…

    Wait, wrong kiwi!

    This is a great list–and kiwi females are my new heroines. Sheesh!



  35. Eva Gale
    August 9th, 2007 at 12:16 pm · Link

    Good Lord they are adorable.



  36. Lis
    August 9th, 2007 at 1:28 pm · Link

    Aww they are so cute!



  37. Shelley Munro
    August 9th, 2007 at 1:41 pm · Link

    I love the photo of the baby kiwi at the top. It is really cute.

    In NZ we always refer to the fruit as kiwifruit. We never call it a kiwi.

    Lanie – no koalas in NZ – you’ll need to go to Aus to find one of them. They are cute, though.



  38. Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
    August 9th, 2007 at 6:21 pm · Link

    awww I love the kiwis!



  39. Connie
    January 12th, 2008 at 7:42 pm · Link

    I love this post!



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