The San Diego Zoo’s Avian Propagation Center is caring for a brown kiwi chick for the first time in more than a decade. The female chick hatched from its egg March 11, and as is typical of this species, it didn’t eat for the first six days. The chick began eating and gaining weight last week, and on April 5, 2016, it weighed 11.8 ounces (333.6 grams).
It is typical for this bird species to lose weight for two weeks after it has hatched. Animal care staff report the female chick lost 26 percent of her body weight before she began gaining weight the last week of March. The kiwi has several unusual traits, for a bird: it does not fly, the parents do not feed their chicks, and the egg is four times the expected size for a bird of the kiwi’s proportions.
Animal care staff will continue to monitor the brown kiwi chick, measuring its weight and observing the young bird in a brooder over the next several weeks. The San Diego Zoo successfully reared its first brown kiwi in 1983. This hatching in March marks the Zoo’s 12th chick. The San Diego Zoo is one of just seven zoos in the United States working with these endangered birds.
I see that is was some time ago that you commented the zoo would like to have the kiwis on display, has that changed? My 8 year old son has been obsessed with kiwis for over a year and it would be the most exciting thing if he could see one. We live in Sacramento and are thinking of making a trip to San Diego this summer, I would love to surprise him with the possibility to see a live Kiwi.
Blog Monitor’s note: Our desire to be able to give people like your son the opportunity to marvel at a kiwi in person hasn’t changed, but we have have no timeline for it, either.
I am from New Zealand and it’s great to see Kiwi being recognised in other countries. Keep up the good work San Diego Zoo!
I am from here and grew up going to Zoo School. My kids were born in New Zealand, and they want to know what happened to the Kiwi and Tuataras at the Zoo. Is there any plans to add species from New Zealand into the Zoo. I believe we saw a Kea at the front stage once, but nothing else.
Blog Monitor’s note: We do have both kiwis and tuataras at the Zoo, but they are not on display at this time, We’d love to have them where guests can marvel at them—once we have appropriate habitats created for them.
You go Kiwi!! Such good news o3o.