While playing, a New Zealand man stumbled upon a large "goose egg" that weighed six times as much as a regular egg. He originally thought that he was an orphan left behind by a giant creature, but out of kindness, he took it back to his home for incubation, and saw a small "bird" within a few days. It doesn't look like a bird either, because as far as we know, birds have wings, and this chick doesn't have wings.
What kind of creature is it? Later, I learned on the Internet that it was a strange bird called "Kiwi Bird". The size of this bird is similar to the large rooster in the home, about 4 pounds. However, the weight of its eggs is "huge", about 1 pound. If you compare it to humans, it is equivalent to a 120-pound female with a 30-pound baby in her belly. But in fact, the weight of human newborns is only 5-8 pounds, and the weight of 30 pounds is equivalent to that of a four-year-old child. It can be seen that the female bird bears such a large weight every day, which is really hard.
Why can a small body produce a big egg? How nice it would be if the chickens in our house could produce such a big egg!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > is the national bird "foreign"? </h1>
When it comes to New Zealand, this bird can be said to be known to everyone, because the Kiwi bird, as their national bird, is regarded by the locals as a symbol of their own nation. Because of its "small and delicate" beak, the Kiwi bird is long and pointed, and it is loved by New Zealanders. Although it now only appears in the New Zealand region, but tracing back to its historical roots, scientists have found that it is possible that its ancestors did not appear in New Zealand.
As a member of the flat-breasted order, the Kiwi belongs to one of the oldest birds on Earth. The same is true of african ostriches, emus, crane ostriches, American ostriches, elephant birds from Madagascar and moa birds from the New Zealand region.
It is speculated that the flat-breasted birds originated in the continent of Gondwana 75 million years ago, and later as the continents shattered and drifted, these birds were fragmented and scattered across different continents, each embarking on its own evolutionary path.
Cooper, a paleontologist from Australia, extracted DNA and discovered that elephant birds in Madagascar and Kiwi birds in New Zealand are close relatives, but only began to diverge 50 million years ago. From this, it is speculated that the earliest kiwi bird is likely not from New Zealand, but an exotic species. Anyway, the current kiwi is a species unique to New Zealand.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the size of a chicken, but one egg is equivalent to 6 eggs</h1>
People wonder why kiwi produce such huge eggs? What are the benefits for kiwi birds? Some people say that the ancestors of the kiwi in ancient times had a huge body, but with the evolution of time, the body of the kiwi also changed with the changes in the environment, and gradually formed the small body we see today. Since there were no natural enemies at that time, the ancestors of the Kiwi bird considered that their eggs did not have to shrink, so there was no change or very little change.
But according to a 2013 study, the ancestor of the kiwi was originally a smaller bird, basically no different from what it is now. So the kiwi didn't evolve from the big birds.
Another theory is that the big eggs of kiwi birds are mainly used to raise children. From an early age, parents let young birds develop the habit of independence, so before birth, parents have "gone far away". This is not cruel, before the parents will store a certain amount of nutrition in advance, that is, their own egg yolk, using egg yolk instead of milk. It is said that the eggs are rich in nutrients, and the yolk alone accounts for 61% of the total egg quality. Much higher than the average bird egg 30%-40%.
The young rely on the mother's yolk to survive in the early stages, and when they are finished, they will leave the eggshell and go out to find food. Their noses are very sensitive, and they use their pointed mouths to smell traces of food and then prey on them. Generally like to eat earthworms, insects, berries, plant leaves, small lizards and mice will not let go.
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The love life of Kiwi is also very enviable, they belong to monogamy, they are loyal to each other, if one of the two sides has an unfortunate death, the other party will never find another way, it is very touching.
In daily life, male birds also have the courage to bear the burden of the head of the family, if the female gives birth, the male bird goes out to find food. However, the number of female breeding is very small, the female can only lay 1-2 eggs per year, if not protected, the eggs are likely to be damaged, so everyone also understands the preciousness of the bird.
However, the number of kiwi birds is now becoming smaller and smaller, because pregnant kiwi birds need to bear a heavy burden and almost lose the ability to move, so it is vulnerable to predators during this period.
However, New Zealand has also taken certain protective measures for kiwi birds, and looks forward to seeing more and more kiwi birds, have you seen it? Feel free to leave a message in the comments section
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