Kiwi.flv

It's midnight in the forest and a young bird sneaks among the shadows. The strange-habit light creature is a kiwi found nowhere else in the world. Every aspect of his behaviour and every physical feature reveal that the kiwi is an evolutionary oddity. For a start, it's an honorary mammal. Unlike any other bird his nostrils are situated at the end of his beak allowing him to detect prey up to six inches underground. And his weird plumage is more like shaggy dog fur than feathers. The youngster is intruding on another kiwi's territory and knowing he's been detected he takes off. The chase reveals all kiwi's most startling evolutionary feature: instead of flying, they run! Hidden in his hairy coat the kiwi has tiny almost invisible wings but they are useless relics from an ancient past.