Kiwi are a flightless bird from the ratite family, and are endemic to New Zealand.
Five species of kiwi are currently recognised: Apteryx owenii (Little Spotted kiwi); Apteryx haastii (Great Spotted kiwi); Apteryx mantelli (North Island brown kiwi); Apteryx australis (Tokoeka, a brown kiwi found in the south of the South Island); and Apteryx rowi (Rowi, brown kiwi found only in a single population at Okarito on the west coast of the South Island).
Kiwi were once abundant and widespread across New Zealand, but with the arrival of European settlers in the 19th century, and the introduction of mammalian predators such as rats, cats, dogs and stoats, their numbers severely declined. Today kiwi populations are fragmented (see map below), and all are threatened with extinction. Subfossil kiwi remains have been found in several locations outside of the present-day range of kiwi, and have been used to help clarify species boundaries. Distinguishing among the kiwi species is not always possible from bone morphology alone, so mitochondrial DNA sequences are commonly used to identify bones.