Kiwi, kiwi, kiwi

I'm one of those lucky ones that has a boyfriend who understands and supports girl's passion. Mine even helps me with my little collection and this postcard is from him :)

Kiwi postcard from a Kiwi 

Kiwis are the most recognizable symbol of New Zealand. The relation is so strong that  world 'kiwi' became also an informal synonim of New Zealander. New Zealand dollar is often called a kiwi dollar. During the Firts World War the soliders from New Zealand were called kiwis and they have carved a giant kiwi on the chalk hill in England. Kiwi is present in the coates of arms, crests and badges all over in the country.

Kiwis are flightless, cute birds which are endangered due to deforestation. The birds are quite shy and they are active by night. Unlikely to the other birds, Kiwis have highly developed sense of smell and they have nostrils located at the top of the beak. They eat fruits and insects. 

Kiwis are monogamists- once bonded they live entire life together and the relationships may last up to 20 years. Isn't that great? The egg can weight 1/4 of the body weight and it's the biggest among the birds in proportion to their body size. That means that their eggs may be 6 x bigger than chicken eggs! Similary to pinguins, the male incubates the egg.

The Māori calls themselves the Kiwi guardians and also believe that birds are under protected by Tane Mahuta- god of the forest.

I can't wait till I see a kiwi myself.