Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Kiwis rely heavily on smell to hunt underground earthworms at night. The figure is taken from San Diego Zoo, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a animals fact?

Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Kiwis are the only birds with nostrils at the tip of their beak

Kiwis rely heavily on smell to hunt underground earthworms at night.

Unlike all other bird species whose nostrils sit near the base of the bill, the flightless kiwi has nostrils located right at the tip of its long beak. As it sniffs along forest floors, specialized sensory pits near the nostrils detect buried soil invertebrates in pitch darkness.

Where this comes from

San Diego Zoo

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Nature & Animals trivia How Curious Are You?

More facts like this

The human nose can distinguish thousands of distinct scentsOlfactory sensory neurons send direct chemical signals to the brain A woodpecker tongue wraps around its skull to protect its brainAn elongated hyoid bone acts as a safety belt during high-speed pecking.Common swifts can stay airborne for ten months continuouslySwifts feed, mate, and sleep in mid-air without landing on ground.Male weaver birds tie intricate knots to build woven nestsWeaver birds use strips of grass to loop and tie hanging spherical nests.Harpy eagle talons are longer than grizzly bear clawsCurved thirteen-centimetre talons exert hundreds of pounds of pressure.Parrots possess specialized brain shells for vocal learningUnique forebrain structures enable parrots to learn human speech sounds.

Tags: kiwi, birds, smell

Kiwis are the only birds with nostrils at the tip of their beak: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Kiwis rely heavily on smell to hunt underground earthworms at night. The figure is taken from San Diego Zoo, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a animals fact?: Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.