Q 01/05

Kiwi are the only birds in the world with which feature at the very tip of their long beaks?

A) Nostrils

B) Ear openings

C) Tear ducts

D) Taste buds

Answer · why

A) Nostrils

Nostrils at the beak tip let a kiwi sniff out prey hidden under the soil, and the bird snorts loudly to blow the dirt back out.

Q 02/05

Kiwi are about the size of which farmyard bird, yet lay eggs roughly six times bigger?

A) Turkey

B) Chicken

C) Peacock

D) Goose

Answer · why

B) Chicken

Chicken-sized though she is, a female kiwi carries an egg that can reach a fifth of her own body weight.

Q 03/05

Most birds have hollow bones, but kiwi bones are filled with what, just as in mammals?

A) Cartilage

B) Fluid

C) Marrow

D) Blood

Answer · why

C) Marrow

Marrow fills a kiwi's bones because a bird that never takes off has no need for a light, air-filled skeleton.

Q 04/05

During which conflict did the nickname Kiwis for New Zealand's soldiers come into general use?

A) Boer War

B) Korean War

C) World War II

D) World War I

Answer · why

D) World War I

World War I spread the name, and by 1917 New Zealanders in general were being called Kiwis in place of older labels such as Enzedder.

Q 05/05

Which branch of New Zealand's military has a red kiwi, a flightless bird, in its roundel?

A) The air force

B) The army reserve

C) The navy

D) The marines

Answer · why

A) The air force

The air force officially adopted the kiwi in 1970, after complaints that the silver fern in its roundel was hard to spot and could be mistaken for a w...