Meet a Kiwi at Smithsonian National Zoo

You too can meet a kiwi! Micaela Jemison from Smithsonian Science takes us to the Smithsonian's National Zoo where she gets up close and personal with a kiwi. From their amazing sense of smell to the whisker-like feathers on their face, we learn all about New Zealand's national icon with kiwi keeper, Kathy Brader.
You can meet a kiwi on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11 a.m. in the bird house at the Smithsonian's National Zoo.
Visit: www.smithsonianscience.org

[@fallenangel_899]

The way you handle them is so different to how New Zealand does it. We keep them inside a very dark room with only a few dim lights for you to see. When you walk inside, you have to be very quiet, if you don't spot the Kiwi then thats too bad lol

[@tripp9278]

I know right. Seems bizarre to have a kiwi just out in the open like that. Poor wee fella.

[@HuiaHamon]

absolutely horrible handling, its not a rat people!! This Smithsonian group have some major animal abuse issues going on....

[@ruffdrafter]

That's because they're mishandling it.

[@fallenangel_899]

@@ruffdrafter YO I CANT BELIEVE I SAID THIS I WAS RIGHTT

[@HuiaHamon]

@@ruffdrafter obviously..nocturnal lol

[@christopherduff1110]

They’re nocturnal, so why they flip are you taking them out in daylight?

[@insan8ty]

THEY'RE SO CUTE!!!!

[@shanenway3684]

Long live the Kiwi -bird..

[@bowiestones1]

Kiwi's are nocturnal (meaning they come out at night) this program needs to reconfigure itself into a "Night Experience" to minimize the Bird's stress please.

[@Alice-si8uz]

Or at least do what we do here in NZ where the room you go in is dark so as to support their biology...

[@Couchienz]

If you handled kiwi in a box like that in the light with your hand waving above it in New Zealand you would probably get a strongly worded letter from the Department of Conversation about inappropriate handling. Kiwi are nocturnal so don’t like bright lights and most birds don’t like people waving hands above them because predators like to go for the head.

[@Hittsy]

The kiwi has evolved with very, very little natural predation. The bird has little (not absent, but little) natural instinct to avoid predators, which is also the reason why the bird is flightless. It is a decendent of a bird that could fly, but they lost that trait, after not needing it to avoid predators in NZ. Studies have shown that when in enviornments without fear of predation due to man-made interference (eg: cats), the kiwi is perfectly happy to forage during the day, which the one shown on the video is doing. Besides, this bird is captive, so the trained enviornment its in, bright lights, people nearby all the time, is likely not to be an issue for that bird.

[@BimbelyGimbly]

It's real kiwi hours

[@shanenway3684]

It's a pair of drumsticks with a straw...☺️ Too cute

[@ericherrero3212]

😊 looks cool. I hope these little guys stick around the island though.

[@kiwichan5438]

MY PEOPLE SAVE THEM

[@swuvs]

It's not the only place in the world to get up close with kiwis

[@swuvs]

There's a country called New Zealand

[@osaiha5913]

Joe S lmao if i want to see a kiwi i would just go to the food marketc

[@mariellegrant6248]

So cute!❤❤❤

[@wannabikkit]

You can get a pretty close view of kiwis at the Kiwi House at Auckland Zoo.

[@keepingit_real5005]

There is 4 maybe 5 white Kiwis at a Bird Sanctuary in New Zealand (Mt Bruce)and many other breeds of Kiwis. Between a place called Eketahuna and Masterton in the North Island NZ.

[@alfreybrijs8770]

Bring him home

[@Jhosie0909]

0:39 kiwi: henlo :>

[@superkiwistar]

re: kiwi fruit. after gold was discovered, people came to nz from all around the world. they brought the best plants from their regions. the gooseberry plants the chinese brought were nothing like its present form. it was like a typical smaller gooseberry. but, it loved nz. and in a nation of farmers, they selectively bred and cultivated it, until it produced massive fruit, unrecognisable anywhere in the world. initially, they were exported to the motherland, under the name chinese gooseberry, because that was its nickname. however, when its worldwide potential was discovered, being unique, nz decided we need more credit for MAKING this wonderful product. so they had a naming contest. it was won by a lady who thought it looked like a kiwi bird, minus beak and feet. and hence it began to be marketed around the world as kiwi fruit. in the 1980's, it was grown nowhere else. debate began as to whether plants should be sold to other countries, or not. the politicians decided it could not be grown anywhere else, because the climate doesn't suit it anywhere else. money for nothing, they thought. the best fruit still comes from nz, is exported around the world. but, other countries now grow it, some with farms owned by kiwi companies, to get around transport, different growing seasons, import tariffs, etc.

[@Valkyrie_Veil]

superkiwistar Very informative, thank you.

[@danielbernal6877]

Wow interesting, here in colombia is very cheap that fruit

[@olivierdujardin8426]

is anyone wondering how the girl knows so much about the kiwi fruit

[@maddythompson6219]

Does Pip have a mate or other Kiwi at the zoo? Just curious:)

[@mistermysteryman107]

I love them so much. They’re so adorable. I want to cuddle one.

[@ndhan72]

Coolest bird in the world! Take it from me ....a New Zealander.

[@tina.cooper1564]

Oh beautiful

[@sparkyboi7352]

Is that chick a kiwi herself?

[@LiamHagan]

She sounds like an Aussie

[@iammattbarker]

Totally Australian. More of a twang.

[@KaijuPunch]

Yes

[@ottonormalverbraucher7835]

Sooo Adorable! I want a kiwi as a pet! so cut!

[@lachlan0982]

They make bad pets tho, mainly because they are nocturnal, that means they are active only during the night, so you might not have much time to spend with it, no to mention it is hostile, it might attack you with its claws, and their strikes can actually draw blood. And besides, owing a kiwi is actually illegal and can land you in jail. So I think its better to just visit them at a zoo. :)

[@feebeedoc78]

They are not pets. They are an endangered species. Enjoy them on the internet if you’re so needy.

[@fallenangel_899]

Bruh not every bloody animal needs to a pet. AND NO YOU CAN NOT HAVE A KIWI AS A PET

[@ruffdrafter]

They are nocturnal, this is not kind or sensitive treatment of a rare species.

[@uncriticalthinkerNZ]

As a Kiwi I appreciate the fact that you raise awareness about kiwi ❤️

[@Alice-si8uz]

Except this isn't how they should be treated... they are nocturnal creatures and need to be in darkness. Also would you want to spend your life locked up in a small glass cage?

[@uncriticalthinkerNZ]

@@Alice-si8uz it doesn’t spend its life in a small cage. Captive kiwi spend their lives in large enclosures with burrows, and suitable light levels. Aotearoa would quickly take back birds who were mistreated. We may take the one in Zoo Miami back due to mistreatment.

[@sadiegarcia5194]

I look kiwis

[@boyufgibi8197]

almost all cutes in our planet is focuses in kiwi - save it and care it is our duty...

[@slushy4289]

Isn’t owning a kiwi in a zoo illegal???

[@MorbyLol]

I can't hear that song without thinking of that horrible peta game

[@mia-th8je]

🥝🥝🥝🥝🥝🥝🥝🥝🥝🥝

[@sadikrady6066]

طائر لا ذيل له ولا أجنحة موطنه الأصلي نيوزيلندا..

[@bigeancebirmingham1524]

pou music!

[@ygnaciomartinez1646]

Isabel RZamora her house sold today for 8million dollars a stable was also purchased in her name Prunty" s stable in Truckee Tahoe , 7 new hoarse s were purchased 5 Mini ponies 6 Donkeys and 11 White Arabian hoarded 19 Black Arabian Hoarse s 25 Budweiser hoarses. 13 Clyde's Dale's

[@hanakinsidewalker]

@@ygnaciomartinez1646 what

[@MotivationaI_cat]

Damn i can't believe they going to extinct because of So much Humans Pressure and Predator they never see before

[@sloppyoyster5779]

Reminds me of a rat

[@opossum89]

This music annoys me

[@moimoi2243]

This is nothing shirt of appalling...the keepers at Smithsonian should know better than to treat a Kiwi in this way...they are nocturnal and very shy...exposing them to multitudes of people AND in the daylight hours is very unprofessional and will be causing the poor little guy alot of stress.

[@GwendaLee]

You shouldn't be putting kiwi in this environment, it's not natural!

[@vinegar6676]

they should eat it

[@bruhfunnybruhmemesandmore8074]

That forehead though