The Great Spotted Kiwi was feeling poorly yesterday so was not on show to visitors. Subsequently, we were advised to call in again and luckily we saw this species of kiwi in the morning. The Great Spotted Kiwi is much bigger than the Brown Kiwis we had seen the previous day, and inhabit the north-west of the South Island. The soft hair-like feathers are paler with dark spots, and we watched this particular kiwi busy preening herself. Weighing 2.5kg, she looked extremely strong and well able to protect herself from predators. We had never seen a this particular species of kiwi before, and thought she looked so beautiful with her spotted coat. As before, we were not able to take photographs inside the kiwi house. The best I could do was to photograph a stuffed specimen of a Little Spotted Kiwi, which is has similar colouring but is much smaller.
Also in a specimen case was a family of Brown Kiwi. You can see the difference in colour between the two species. The Kiwi is our national bird but unfortunately are severely endangered in the wild. Most New Zealand citizens will only ever see a live kiwi in a facility such as the Otorohanga Kiwi House.
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