KIWI
Kiwifruit or Chinese gooseberry, is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit is oval, about the size of a large hen's egg. Kiwifruit has a thin, fuzzy, fibrous, light brown skin that is tart but edible, and light green or golden flesh that contains rows of tiny black edible seeds.
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand of the order Apterygiformes. The five extant species fall into the family Apterygidae and genus Apteryx. Approximately the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are the smallest ratites (which also include ostriches, emus, rheas, cassowaries, and the extinct elephant birds and moa).
DNA sequence comparisons have yielded the conclusion that kiwi are much more closely related to the extinct Malagasy elephant birds than to the moa with which they shared New Zealand.There are five recognised species, four of which are currently listed as vulnerable, and one of which is near threatened. All species have been negatively affected by historic deforestation, but their remaining habitat is well protected in large forest reserves and national parks. At present, the greatest threat to their survival is predation by invasive mammalian predators.
The vestigial wings are so small as to be invisible under their bristly, hair-like, two-branched feathers. Kiwi eggs are one of the largest in proportion to body size (up to 20% of the female's weight) of any order of bird in the world. Other unique adaptations of kiwi, such as short and stout legs and using their nostrils at the end of their long beak to detect prey before they see it, have helped the bird to become internationally well known.
Kiwi fruit is small, oval-shaped, and covered with thin brown skin, while the kiwi bird is also small and round-bodied, with soft brown feathers that help it blend into its natural environment.
The kiwi fruit is known for its sweet and slightly sour taste, rich in vitamin C and eaten all over the world, whereas the kiwi bird feeds mainly on insects and lives only in New Zealand.
Kiwi fruit grows on vines and is cultivated by humans for food, while the kiwi bird cannot fly, lives on the ground, and is a protected species because of its rarity.
