What is a kiwi's life cycle?

Answer 1

Female kiwi lay their first egg when they are 3-5 years old. Males reach reproductive age at 18 months, but in their native habitat, they tend not to breed until they older. Breeding season begins in June, the New Zealand winter, and continues through to about March of the following year.

Kiwi dig a burrow for the egg, or find a pre-existing burrow, several months before it is laid. Three weeks after mating, the female lays an egg which is about 6 times the size of an egg from another bird of similar size. Just before the egg is laid, it makes up 15-20% of the kiwi's body weight, and takes up so much room that the female is unable to eat because there is no room in her stomach.

Both male and female kiwi incubate the egg, and another egg may already be developing in the female, to be laid in another three weeks' time. Male kiwis develop a bare patch on their abdomen, which is the "brood patch" - a section that is used to keep the egg warm. It takes 70-80 days for the eggs to incubate.

Hatching may take up to three days. The chick hatches with its eyes fully open. Initially, it feeds on a yolk sac which also prevents the baby chick from moving about the nest, but this is mostly absorbed after a couple of days. The chick then begins to feed on tiny pebbles and twigs which are stored in its gizzard to help with food digestion once it starts eating real food. Depending on the species, chicks are old enough to leave the parents' territory when they are 4-6 weeks old. (Southern Tokoeka may stay with the parent for up to 5 years.) Unlike their nocturnal parents, the chicks feed both day and night, making them more susceptible to predators.

It is believed that 95% of young chicks do not survive past their first six months. Those that do then go out and establish their own territory.

For more details, and a diagram, see the related link

Answer 2

Sources vary on this.

The New Zealand Government's Department of Conservation website states that the kiwi's life span averages 50 years, while it is believed the Rowi, of the South Island, might even live up to 100 years.

Te Ara, the New Zealand Encyclopedia, states that the kiwi's average life span is between 10 and 30 years.

See the related links for the sources.

Answer 3

The main stages of a kiwi's life cycle are:

• the adult bird establishes its territory
• it finds a mate
• it digs a burrow or uses a pre-existing one
• the bird mates
• the female lays an egg and usually another one 24 days later
• the male incubates the egg
• the egg hatches
• within three days, the chick stands on its own
• any chick that survives the first six months (and 95% do not) then goes out to establish its own territory

Kiwis dig a burrow for the egg, or find a pre-existing burrow, several months before it is laid. Three weeks after mating, the female lays an egg which is about 6 times the size of an egg from another bird of similar size. Male kiwis incubate the egg, and another egg may already be developing in the female, to be laid in another three weeks' time.

Hatching may take up to three days. The chick hatches with its eyes fully open. Initially, it feeds on a yolk sac which also prevents the baby chick from moving about the nest, but this is mostly absorbed after a couple of days. The chick then begins to feed on tiny pebbles and twigs which are stored in its gizzard to help with food digestion once it starts eating real food. Depending on the species, chicks are old enough to leave the parents' territory when they are 4-6 weeks old. (Southern Tokoeka may stay with the parent for up to 5 years.) Unlike their nocturnal parents, the chicks feed both day and night, making them more susceptible to predators. It is believed that 95% of young chicks do not survive past their first six months.