Kiwis are flightless birds. They forage for food on the ground. Kiwis have external nostrils which are placed at the tip of their break. This makes the search for the food beneath the soil or the fallen leaves easier. Kiwis have the second most significant olfactory bulb in all birds.
In fact, the research suggests that feeling the prey’s vibrations may be more important to a hungry kiwi than smelling it. Instead, smell may be mainly used to explore their environment.
The finding surprised researchers. Other probe-feeding birds, such as godwits and sandpipers, also have remarkably sensitive bill-tip organs to pick up prey vibrations, but these shorebirds are only very distant relatives of kiwi. It may be an evolutionary example of two distantly related animals independently coming up with the same solution to the same problem.
Picture Credit : Google