What are the stages of a kiwi's life cycle?

Answer 1

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.