NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

It's now black and white: Our kiwi is colour blind

Jamie Morton
By Jamie Morton
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
23 Jul, 2015 12:37 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Research reveals our national bird is colour blind. Photo / Nicola Topping

Research reveals our national bird is colour blind. Photo / Nicola Topping

Not only is our quirky national bird flightless - it's also colour blind.

The long-suspected finding comes from new research revealing how the kiwi evolved its sense of smell and colour 35 million years ago to help it cope with its nocturnal life sniffing around the undergrowth at night.

The insights have been revealed in a study, published today in the journal Genome Biology, which mapped for the first time the genome of the North Island brown kiwi - the most common species of the endangered bird.

Kiwi have proven curious creatures to scientists for many reasons, among them their highly developed sense of smell, low metabolic rate, and enormous eggs in relation to body size.

How they have developed genetically to have these characteristics, however, hasn't been well understood.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When a team of German researchers sequenced the genomes of two kiwi, they discovered not only that it was one of the largest bird genomes sequenced to date, but also strange evolutionary changes that could help it explain how it gradually adapted to nocturnality.

This behaviour is observed in less than three per cent of all bird species.

"We've seen for the first time that kiwi lack colour vision, and that their olfactory receptors can probably detect a larger range of odours which may be essential for their night-time foraging," said study lead author Diana Le Duc, of the University of Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"These adaptations seem to have happened around 35 million years ago, soon after their arrival in New Zealand, probably as a consequence of their nocturnal lifestyle."

The gene responsible for black and white vision, rhodopsin, was found to be similar to other vertebrates.

However, the team identified mutations in the green and blue vision receptor genes, which could render blue and green colour vision absent in the kiwi.

The changes in kiwi vision and smell were consistent with changes thought to occur during adaptation to nocturnal lifestyle in mammals.

Discover more

New Zealand

Dog tied up and left to die

21 Jul 11:33 PM
World

Amazing images: Spot the snow leopard

22 Jul 04:12 AM
World

Wild bear breaks into zoo

23 Jul 07:49 PM
Opinion

Alexander Gillespie: Endangered species and cultural traditions must be protected

27 Jul 11:23 PM

The researchers estimated the onset time of these changes to around 35 million years ago, suggesting that the kiwi adopted its nocturnal lifestyle shortly after the arrival of its ancestor in New Zealand.

At the time the kiwi arrived other ratite birds, the moa, already inhabited New Zealand.

These now extinct birds, of which one species was over three metres in height, are thought to have monopolized food sources during the day, forcing the kiwi to adopt an alternative nocturnal lifestyle.

Kiwi are unique among birds in having nostrils present at the end of their long beaks and it has long been thought they are more similar to mammals than birds in their reliance on tactile and smell senses for foraging.

The kiwi genome showed significantly higher diversity in smell receptors than other investigated birds, suggesting that they may be able to distinguish a larger range of odours.

Nocturnal animals tend to have low energy metabolism, and kiwi have the lowest metabolic rate among all birds.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In the genome, the team found enriched changes in genes related to energy expenditure, reserves and metabolic processes, which may also be linked to this nocturnal lifestyle.

The study marks the latest leap in our understanding of kiwi and its clouded history.

Last year, DNA sequencing revealed the kiwi was closely related to the extinct, 2.3m tall elephant bird, a native of Madagascar, re-writing a back-story that had the kiwi's ancestor likely flying in from Australia.

The country breathed a collective sigh of relief at the fact our kiwi was no Aussie.

Dr Tammy Steeves, a conservation geneticist at Canterbury University, said the new findings from Germany were exciting.

Of the more than 10,000 bird species worldwide, a mere 50 of them had a readily available genome.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Given that bird genomes are small, compact and highly conserved, the publication of the kiwi genome will help pave the way for a new era in the conservation of bird biodiversity in New Zealand."

Using a high quality genome like that generated for the North Island brown kiwi would allow for the development of species-specific genomic resources, she said.

"These resources will provide a more accurate representation of genome-wide diversity and better inform conservation management strategies to minimise the loss of genomic diversity, particularly for threatened birds like the North Island brown kiwi."

Last year, the Department of Conservation warned that the kiwi could become extinct within our grandchildren's lifetime if there was not intervention.

Wild kiwi numbers were falling by 2 per cent each year and, at this rate, the bird could be wiped out on the mainland within the next generation.

This year's Budget included a special $11 million allocation for kiwi conservation, with an aim to turn the 2 per cent decline into an annual increase as soon as possible.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But despite such conservation efforts, North Island brown kiwi are still at high risk of extinction, Dr Le Duc said.

"We made a first estimate of the diversity of the kiwi genome by comparing the sequence of two individuals, and it appears to be as low as that of inbred birds.

"This is an important indication of the level of the threat, and we expect further insights from the genome to help in developing conservation management strategies."

Dr Lara Shepherd, a genetics researcher at Te Papa, expected the new data would not stop the decline of wild kiwi, which could largely be blamed on predation by introduced mammals.

"New funding for kiwi predator control announced in this year's budget will hopefully halt this decline."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Politics

Govt earmarks $100m for students underachieving in maths, new ‘maths intervention’ teachers

12 May 07:30 AM
Politics

Abuse in state care: PM defends broken promise, emotional Hipkins slams Govt ‘injustice’

12 May 07:26 AM
New Zealand

'Kill him': Crown alleges woman's Facebook messages incited man's murder

12 May 07:00 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Govt earmarks $100m for students underachieving in maths, new ‘maths intervention’ teachers

Govt earmarks $100m for students underachieving in maths, new ‘maths intervention’ teachers

12 May 07:30 AM

Funding will be included in next week's Budget.

Abuse in state care: PM defends broken promise, emotional Hipkins slams Govt ‘injustice’

Abuse in state care: PM defends broken promise, emotional Hipkins slams Govt ‘injustice’

12 May 07:26 AM
'Kill him': Crown alleges woman's Facebook messages incited man's murder

'Kill him': Crown alleges woman's Facebook messages incited man's murder

12 May 07:00 AM
Nearly 7 times over the limit: Former NZ Idol judge Paul Ellis caught drink driving, living in his car

Nearly 7 times over the limit: Former NZ Idol judge Paul Ellis caught drink driving, living in his car

12 May 07:00 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP