New Zealand’s small and flightless North Island brown kiwi is a nocturnal bird that sleeps in burrows underground. They are endangered but beloved and protected. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo introduces three-year-old brown kiwi Pip in this Light Talks video, narrated by animal keeper Jordana Todd.

The video is one in a series that features some of the zoo’s 2,000 rare and extraordinary creatures with narration from zoo experts.

Read more about ratites, “a diverse group of flightless and mostly large and long-legged birds” that includes the African ostrich, the Australian emu, three species of cassowary, two species of rhea, and five species of kiwi.

Related reading: A Day in the Life of a Bird House Keeper.

Next: A Kiwi chick struggles to hatch at Auckland Zoo.

Then watch videos about other flightless birds: Giant Cassowary, a modern-day dinosaur and The Kakapo: The world’s only flightless parrot is a very rare bird.