Deep inside a forest of towering trees and ferns, something is sleeping. Small ferns and leaf litter are scattered around a dark hole in a log at the base of a tree.
Inside is a feathery ball named Miro. She is a New Zealand native bird. In fact, this is the bird that New Zealanders often call themselves – Kiwi.
Miro is covered in feathers of different lengths and muted shades of brown and red, from her small face, across her body and down to her knees. Her scaly feet look a little like dinosaur feet, armed with long claws for digging or fighting off predators.
Just like a cat, Miro has whiskers on her face. These help her navigate on the forest floor in the dark when she hunts for food. As other birds are settling on a branch for the night, Miro is waking up and getting ready to leave her nest. She has laid an egg, many times bigger than a chicken’s, and her mate named Maru will carry on keeping their egg warm.
Miro sets off to hunt. She loves worms, spiders, bugs and snails and sometimes must dig for them in the damp, forest soil with her long beak. All the while she must stay wary for attacks from stoats, ferrets, rats and cats. These are the predators that kill most kiwi, especially kiwi chicks. After a night of feeding, Miro returns to the nest.
Soon their egg begins to wobble. The chick breaks its way out of the egg, and knows already how to hunt for worms and bugs, without any lessons from its parents. He is a tiny version of them with the same shades of feathers and small scaly feet.
Perfect for classrooms, visitors to Aotearoa New Zealand, and nature lovers alike.
Miro The Little Brown Kiwi is part photo journal, part story – of a North Island Brown Kiwi’s normal night time routine. The superb close up photos give readers a window into Miro the kiwi’s world, down at forest floor level. From asleep, to hunting and digging for a stubborn worm, we see a snapshot of her life, her nest and her new chick hatching.
I loved the way the story swung round full circle in its description of Miro’s chick, and then you turn the page to find added pages of Kiwi facts. There is info on how to help keep them safe, where you can see them indoors and if you are really lucky, outdoors in special reserves and habitats.
A helpful glossary completes this photographic picture book perfectly.
Author / Photography – Kelly Lynch
Picture Book
(2024, Bateman Books, Aotearoa New Zealand, NZ Native Birds, North Island Brown Kiwi, Chick, Habitat, Forest, Life of a Kiwi, Kiwi Facts, Predators)