Kagu: Rhynochetidae

The kagu eats ground-living snails, insects, spiders, earthworms and lizards, which it forages for on forest floors. The most popular foods among kagus are earthworms and snails. Since the abundance and types of food creatures change with the seasons, and to keep from eating too much food in one area, kagus forage in different parts of their territories at different times of the year.

A kagu begins a feeding run in the early morning by simply standing still. With its excellent vision and hearing, the kagu is listening for the faintest noises and looking for the slightest movements that may betray the presence of food animals. After picking out certain spots that harbor food creatures, the kagu walks slowly and starts probing the layer of dead leaves on the forest floor at those spots.

When a kagu spots a prey animal, the bird approaches it carefully, then lunges at it and snags it in a quick motion. Kagus hunt not only in the layer of fallen leaves on the forest floor for spiders, beetles and snails, but pokes its beak into the soil to expose worms and larvae. It deals with snails by smashing the shell on a rock to get at the snail's body.