Scientific Name: Stringops Habroptilus
IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered
Weight: (Adults) 0.95 to 4 kg
(Male) 2-6kg
(Female) 1.5 kg
Height: (Adults) 58 to 64cm
Description: The Kakapo is a large and rotund parrot. The upper parts of the
kakapo have yellowish moss-green feathers mottled with black or dark brownish
grey, blending well with native vegetation. The breast and flank are yellowish-green
streaked with yellow. The belly, undertail, neck, and face are predominantly
yellowish streaked with pale green and weakly mottled with brownish-grey. Because
the feathers do not need the strength and stiffness required for flight, they are
exceptionally soft, giving rise to the specific epithet Habroptilus. The mandible(the
lower jawbone in mammals and fishes) is variable in colour, mostly ivory, with the
upper part often bluish-grey. The eyes are dark brown. Kakapo feet are large, scaly,
and, as in all parrots, zygodactyl (two toes face forward and two backward). The
pronounced claws are particularly useful for climbing. The ends of the tail feathers
often become worn from being continuously dragged on the ground.
Females: Females are easily distinguished from males as they have a narrower and
less domed head, narrower and proportionally longer beak, smaller cere and nostrils,
more slender and pinkish grey legs and feet, and proportionally longer tail. While
their plumage colour is not very different from that of the male, the toning is more
subtle, with less yellow and mottling. Nesting females also have a brood patch of
bare skin on the belly.
Predators: The reason for its massive decline was since the introduction of dogs, cats
and mustelids.
Feeding: The beak of the kakapo is adapted for grinding food finely. For this reason,
the kakapo has a very small gizzard compared to other birds of their size. It is
entirely herbivores, eating native plants, seeds, fruits, pollen and even the sapwood
of trees.
- The kakapo is a species of large, flightless, nocturnal, ground dwelling parrot of
the super-family Strigopoidea, endemic to New Zealand. - It is called the ‘night parrot’ in the Maori language and also called the owl parrot.
- The kakapo is critically endangered; the total known adult population is 209 living
individuals. - The kakapo is primarily nocturnal; it roosts under cover in trees or on the ground
during the day and moves around its territories at night. - The kakapo is the only extant species of flightless parrot in the world, and the
only flightless bird that has a lek breeding system. - Males loosely gather in an arena and compete with each other to attract females.
Females listen to the males as they display, or "lek". - They choose a mate based on the quality of his display; they are not pursued by
the males in any overt way. - No pair bond is formed; males and females meet only to mate.
- During the courting season, males leave their home ranges for hilltops and ridges
where they establish their own mating courts. - At the start of the breeding season, males will fight to try to secure the best
courts. They confront each other with raised feathers, spread wings, open beaks,
raised claws and loud screeching and growling. - Fighting may leave birds with injuries or even kill them. Mating occurs only
approximately every five years, with the ripening of the Rimu fruit. - In mating years, males making "booming" calls for 6–8 hours every night for more
than four months. - The female kakapo lays 1–4 eggs per breeding cycle.
- She nests on the ground under the cover of plants or in cavities such as hollow
tree trunks. - The female incubates the eggs faithfully, but is forced to leave them every night
in search of food. - Predators are known to eat the eggs, and the embryos inside can also die of cold
in the mother's absence. - Kakapo eggs usually hatch within 30 days, bearing fluffy grey chicks that are
quite helpless. - In late April 2019, the first case of the fungal disease aspergillosis in New
Zealand Kakapo was discovered. - As of 13 June 2019, almost 20% of the population, or 36 birds, have been flown
by helicopter to veterinary hospitals around New Zealand for CT scan diagnosis
and intensive treatment that usually lasted for several months. - Dunedin's Wildlife Hospital has treated 12 birds.
- The meat of kakapo made good eating and was considered by Māori to be a
delicacy and it was hunted for food when it was still widespread. - One source states that its flesh resembles lamb in taste and texture.
- In breeding years, the loud booming calls of the males heir mating arenas made it
easy for Māori hunting parties to track the kakapo down, and it was also hunted
while feeding or when dust-bathing in dry weather. - The bird was caught, generally at night, using snares, pitfall traps, or by groups of
domesticated Polynesian dogs which accompanied hunting parties. - sometimes they would use fire sticks of various sorts to dazzle a bird in the
darkness, stopping it in their tracks and making the capture easier. - As well as eating the meat of the kakapo, Māori would use kakapo skins with the
feathers still attached or individually weave in kakapo feathers with flax fibre to
create cloaks and capes. - Each one required up to 11,000 feathers to make. Not only were these garments
considered very beautiful, they also kept the wearer very warm. - They were highly valued, and the few still in existence today are
considered taonga (treasures). - Kakapo feathers were also used to decorate the heads of taiaha, but were
removed before use in combat. - Despite this, the kakapo was also regarded as an affectionate pet by the Māori.
- The BBC's Natural History Unit also featured the kakapo, including a sequence
with Sir David Attenborough in The Life of Bird. - It was also one of the endangered animals Douglas Adams and Mark
Carwardine set out to find for the radio series and book Last Chance To See. - An updated version of the series has been produced for BBC TV, in
which Stephen Fry and Carwardine revisit the animals to see how they are
getting on almost 20 years later, and in January 2009, they spent time filming the
kakapo on Codfish Island. - Footage of a kakapo named Sirocco attempting to mate with Carwardine's head
was viewed by millions worldwide, leading to Sirocco becoming "spokes-bird" for
New Zealand wildlife conservation in 2010.
