[5]Beak — Freak or Unique?
by Leona Atkinson
Marvelous Works [6]
Wandering through a thrift store the other day I came upon an unusual looking TY Beanie Baby named “Beak.” It was a plump bird, with a very long beak that had nostrils on the end of it, three toed feet, no tail, tiny wings and an almost camouflaged looking brown color. What a strange looking bird I thought.
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“Beak” a TY Beanie Baby
Needing to find an unusual gift for my writer’s group birthday exchange I decided to purchase “Beak”, take her home, write a story or poem about her, wrap her up and give her as a gift to one of my unsuspecting writer friends. This decision led me to spend many hours researching Kiwi Birds, for that is what I found out “Beak” was.
I had never before heard of a Kiwi Bird, but I learned that they are very unique and actually an extraordinary work of God.
Kiwi Birds are only found in New Zealand.
Kiwis are flightless birds that are about the size of a chicken.
Female kiwis lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world, actually their eggs are nearly the size of ostrich eggs.
They are an endangered species and the national symbol of New Zealand.
Kiwis are unique in the bird world because they live in burrows on the forest floor, have no tail, and have tiny two inch wings which are really useless.
Their eyesight is poor, however they see better at night then during the day and perhaps that is why they are usually nocturnal.
Kiwi are also very shy and most often not seen by humans.
Kiwi have a highly developed sense of smell, unusual in a bird, and are the only birds with nostrils at the end of their long beaks.
Kiwi beaks are generally 1/3 size of their bodies and are used to forage the forest floor for food such as insects or worms.
Even though they might look awkward, a kiwi can actually outrun a human, are very alert and are able to defend themselves with their sharp, three-toed feet, kicking and slashing an enemy. Enemies are often domestic dogs and cats.
Their covering is more like fur than feathers and actually feels like horse hair.
These birds were named Kiwi because of their distinctive shrill cry “kee-wee kee-wee”.
Unique means being the only one of a particular type, without equal, unparalleled, very remarkable or unusual. I would say unique truly describes the Kiwi Bird. However, all of God’s creations are unique in some way for God created us all different, no one is exactly the same. There is only one me and only one you, so we can all be called unique and we are all special in God’s eyes.
For more information on Kiwi Birds follow this link: Answers to Kiwi Questions–National Zoo [8]