The Great Kiwi Quiz

21 questions, 30 possible points ...

Who will take out The Great Kiwi Quiz?

1 How many species of kiwi are there?

Can you name them? (One point for every correct

2 answer)

True or false: A fully developed kiwi egg takes up 20%

3 of the female kiwi’s body.

4 Do kiwi see in colour, or black and white?

5 How long does it take an egg to incubate:

20, 50, or 70 days?

6 True or false: A kiwi’s main weapon of defence is its beak.

What makes a kiwi’s beak unique: its nostrils, its length,

7 or what it’s made of?

8 True or false: The kiwi has wings.

9 What is another name for a Chinese gooseberry?

Kiwi belong to a group of largely flightless birds known

10 as ratites. Name three other ratites. (One point for every
correct answer)
11 Are kiwi herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores?

What percentage of kiwi chicks that hatch in unmanaged

12 areas will be killed by predators before they reach
breeding age: 25%, 50%, or 95%?
True or false: The female brown kiwi can produce two
13 eggs in one clutch.

The kiwi is flightless. Name three other native

14 flightless birds. (One point for every correct answer)

True or false: On Rakiura/Stewart Island, the kiwi comes

15 out during the day.

Name two predators to kiwi that belong to the mustelid

16 family. (One point for every correct answer)
New Zealand author and illustrator Kat Quin writes
17 a series of children's books starring a kiwi. What is the
kiwi’s name?

18 What is the te reo name for the great spotted kiwi?

19 With brown kiwi and little spotted kiwi, which bird sits on
an egg to incubate it: the male or the female?

20 What sense does the kiwi rely on most to find food?

In what year did ‘Goodnight Kiwi’ stop appearing on

21 television: 1989, 1991, or 1994?

Score: _____ / 30
 The Great Kiwi Quiz Answers
Q1: How many species of kiwi are there?
A Five
Q2: Can you name them?
A North Island brown kiwi, roroa/great spotted kiwi, kiwi pukupuku/little spotted kiwi,
rowi, and tokoeka. Five possible points
Q3: True or false: A fully developed kiwi egg takes up 20% of the female kiwi’s body.
A True. A kiwi laying an egg is roughly the equivalent of a human giving birth to a four-
year-old.
Q4: Do kiwi see in colour, or black and white?
A Black and white – kiwi are colour blind!
Q5: How long does it take an egg to incubate: 20, 50, or 70 days?
A Kiwi have one of the longest egg incubation periods in the bird world at around 70 days,
more than twice what’s normal for most birds. Comparatively, a chicken egg takes
approximately 21 days to hatch.
Q6: True or false: A kiwi’s main weapon of defence is its beak.
A False. To use its beak to fight would be like us head-butting someone with our nose!
The kiwi’s main weapons are its powerful legs and sharp claws.
Q7: What makes a kiwi’s beak unique: its nostrils, its length, or what it’s made of?
A Its nostrils. The kiwi is the only bird in the world with external nostrils at the top of its
long beak.
Q8: True or false: The kiwi has wings.
A True – although they’re useless. Kiwi are flightless but they do have tiny vestigial wings
with a tiny cat-like claw on the end of them.
Q9: What is another name for a Chinese gooseberry?
A A kiwifruit
Q10: Kiwi belong to a group of largely flightless birds known as ratites. Name three
other ratites.
A Ratites include ostrich, emu, rhea, cassowary, and tinamou, and the extinct moa and
‘elephant bird’. Three possible points
Q11: Are kiwi herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores?
A Omnivores. Kiwi eat a wide-ranging diet, partially dependent on their habitat. Most of
their diet is made up of invertebrates, with worms as a particular favourite. They also eat
berries, seeds, and some leaves.
Q12: What percentage of kiwi chicks that hatch in unmanaged areas will be killed by
predators before they reach breeding age: 25%, 50%, or 95%?
A Sadly, 95%. Kiwi chicks are particularly vulnerable to predators like stoats because
they’re small, don’t fly, and sleep during the day. Once they reach the weight of around
1kg they have a fighting chance against a stoat, but come up against new threats
including ferrets and dogs.
Q13: True or false: The female brown kiwi can produce two eggs in one clutch.
A True. Plus, in a typical laying season brown kiwi have two clutches, which means they
could produce four eggs in one season. Some birds have even been known to lay three
eggs in one clutch!
Q14: The kiwi is flightless. Can you name three other native flightless birds?
A Other flightless birds native to Aotearoa include kākāpō, takahē, various penguins,
weka, moa, three flightless wrens, and two adzebills. Three possible points
Q15: True or false: On Rakiura/Stewart Island, the kiwi comes out during the day.
A True. While the kiwi is nocturnal, on Rakiura/Stewart Island birds are known to be
spotted during the day, possibly because daytime hours are longer during summer closer
to the South Pole.
Q16: Name two predators to kiwi that belong to the mustelid family.
A Stoats, ferrets, and weasels belong to the mustelid family. Two possible points
Q17: New Zealand author and illustrator Kat Quin writes a series of children's books
starring a kiwi. What is the kiwi’s name?
A Kuwi the Kiwi
Q18: What is the te reo name for the great spotted kiwi?
A Roroa
Q19: With brown kiwi and little spotted kiwi, which bird sits on an egg to incubate it:
the male or the female?
A The male.
Q20: What sense does the kiwi rely on most to find food?
A Their sense of smell. In fact, their beak can detect a few parts per million of scent. The
kiwi also uses its exceptional hearing and sensitive whiskers to feel their way around in the
dark.
Q21: In what year did ‘Goodnight Kiwi’ stop appearing on television: 1989, 1991, or
1994?
A 1994. ‘Goodnight Kiwi’, created by animator Sam Harvey, appeared nightly to signal the
end of transmission on Television New Zealand between 1981 and 1994. The animation
ends with the kiwi going to sleep in a satellite dish.