Special Sub-Topic: Creatures of Wonder - New Zealand Click Here To Play: Creatures of Wonder - New Zealand

The world's heaviest parrot is also the world's only flightless parrot. Can you name this parrot?

kakapo. The kakapo runs fast and climbs trees by using its beak as a third leg. The kakariki is a native parakeet. The kaka is a ruddy brown parrot, which does fly. The katipo is a poisonous spider.

Disease and predation reduced this bird to a single breeding pair known as "Old Blue" and "Old Yellow". They now have more than 250 descendants. Can you name this bird?

black robin. Black robins are only found on the Chatham Islands of New Zealand. If you ever get the chance to see a documentary about how the Chatham Islands Black Robin was saved, do watch it.

My egg weighs about 15 percent of my body weight. I am the only bird to have nostrils at the end of my beak. I cannot fly and I nest in a burrow. What kind of bird am I?

kiwi. The kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand. Stoats and cats kill 95 per cent of kiwi chicks. Adult birds are often killed by dogs and ferrets. Maori used kiwi feathers to make highly prized cloaks.

Pekapeka are the only native non-marine mammals in New Zealand. They are a type of what?

bat. The Maori name for bat is “pekapeka”. Our only endemic bats are the long-tailed (Chalinolobus)and the short-tailed (Mystacina).

I am one of the world's smallest dolphins and can only be found in New Zealand waters. I am known as the "Down-Under Dolphin". What am I called?

Hector's Dolphin. There are nine species of dolphin found in New Zealand waters. The Hector's Dolphin has only been found off the coast of Canterbury in the East and from Kaipara to Taranaki in the West.

For many years tuataras have not been found (outside of captivity) on the main North or South Islands. What is the main reason for this?

Introduced predators eat their eggs and young.. The tuatara is one of the world's oldest living reptiles. They walked with the dinosaurs some 200 million years ago. All of their relations in the order Sphenodontia died out about 60 million years ago.

The yellow-eyed penguin is also known by its Maori name “Hoiho”. It has a yellow headband, white belly and grey blue plumage. The Hoiho is believed to be the world's rarest penguin. Infant birds have brown downy feathers. At what age do young Hoiho develop their adult plumage?

14 - 16 months. There were less than 7000 yellow-eyed penguins in 2004. They often live to be 20 years old.

Known as "Devils of the Night" weta have been around unchanged for over 160 million years. Over 100 species of weta are endemic to New Zealand. What is a weta?

A crawling insect, which may be rat -sized.. Wetas may look horrendous but they are harmless. Until it was rediscovered in 1962, the Mahoenui giant weta was believed extinct on the main islands.

New Zealand has two varieties of royal albatross. The Northern royal albatross breeds on the Chatham Islands and on Taiaroa Head, Otago. The Southern royal albatross breeds only on Auckland Island and one other island. Can you name that island?

Campbell Island. The royal albatross has a wingspan of up to 3.3 metres enabling it to fly around 190,000 kilometres a year. About 85 per cent of its life is spent at sea. The Northern royal albatross is an endangered species.

New Zealand has many varieties of skink. Two of the rarest are the grand skink and the Otago skink. What is a skink?

A type of lizard.. The grand skink and the Otago skink live in Otago in the South Island. They can grow to 300mm in length.