Kākāpō
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The kākāpō (; : ; ''Strigops habroptilus''), sometimes known as the owl parrot or owl-faced parrot, is a species of large,
nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...
, ground-dwelling
parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
of the superfamily
Strigopoidea The New Zealand parrot family, Strigopidae,Nestoridae and Strigopidae are described in the same article, Bonaparte, C.L. (1849) ''Conspectus Systematis Ornithologiae''. Therefore, under rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ...
. It is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Kākāpō can be up to long. They have a combination of unique traits among parrots: finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct
facial disc In ornithology, the facial disc is the concave collection of feathers on the face of some birds—most notably owls—surrounding the eyes. The concavity of the facial disc forms a circular paraboloid that collects sound waves and directs those ...
, owl-style forward-facing eyes with surrounding discs of specially-textured feathers, a large grey beak, short legs, large blue feet, relatively short wings and a short tail. It is the world's only
flightless Flightless birds are birds that cannot fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites ( ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwis) and penguins. The smal ...
parrot, the world's heaviest parrot, and also is nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly
sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
in body size, has a low
basal metabolic rate Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate of energy expenditure per unit time by endothermic animals at rest.. In other words it is the energy required by body organs to perform normal It is reported in energy units per unit time ranging from watt ( ...
, and does not have male
parental care Parental care is a behavioural and evolutionary strategy adopted by some animals, involving a parental investment being made to the evolutionary fitness of offspring. Patterns of parental care are widespread and highly diverse across the animal k ...
. It is the only parrot to have a
polygynous Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...
lek breeding system. It is also possibly one of the world's longest-living birds, with a reported lifespan of up to 100 years. Adult males weigh around ; the equivalent figure for females is . The anatomy of the kākāpō typifies the tendency of bird-evolution on oceanic islands. With few predators and abundant food, kākāpō exhibit
island syndrome Island syndrome describes the differences in Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, physiology and ethology, behaviour of island, insular species compared to their continental counterparts. These differences evolve due to the different evolut ...
development, having a generally-robust torso physique at the expense of flight abilities, resulting in reduced shoulder- and wing-muscles, along with a diminished
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
on the
sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major bl ...
. Like many other New Zealand bird species, the kākāpō was historically important to Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It appears in
Māori mythology Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the ...
. Heavily hunted in the past, it was used by the Māori both for its meat and for its feathers. The kākāpō is critically endangered; the total known population of living individuals is Known individuals are named, tagged and confined to four small New Zealand islands, all of which are clear of predators; however, in 2023, a reintroduction to mainland New Zealand ( Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari) was accomplished. Introduced mammalian predators, such as cats, rats,
ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), as evidenced by the ferret's ability to inter ...
s, and stoats almost wiped out the kākāpō. All conservation efforts were unsuccessful until the Kākāpō Recovery Programme began in 1995.


Taxonomy

The kākāpō was formally described and illustrated in 1845 by the English
ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
George Robert Gray George Robert Gray (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoology, zoologist and author, and head of the Ornithology, ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, London f ...
. He created a new
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
and coined the
binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
. Gray was uncertain about the origin of his specimen and wrote, "This remarkable bird is found in one of the islands of the South Pacific Ocean." The type location has been designated as
Dusky Sound Tamatea / Dusky Sound is a fiord on the southwest corner of New Zealand, in Fiordland National Park. Geography One of the most complex of the many fiords on this coast, it is also the largest at 40 kilometres in length and eight kilometres wi ...
on the southwest corner of New Zealand's
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
. The generic name is derived from the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
, genitive ("owl"), and ("face"), while its specific
epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
comes from ("soft"), and ("feather"). In 1955 the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...
(ICZN) ruled that the genus name was
feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...
. Based on this ruling many ornithologists used the form ''Strigops habroptila'' but in 2023 James L. Savage and Andrew Digby argued that under the current ICZN rules the specific epithet should be ''habroptilus''. This view was accepted by ornithologists and in 2024 the International Ornithological Congress Checklist and the eBird/Clements Checklist changed the spelling of the binomial name back to ''Strigops habroptilus''. The species is
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...
, as no subspecies are recognised. The name is Māori, from ("parrot") + ("night"); the name is both singular and plural. "Kākāpō" is increasingly written in
New Zealand English New Zealand English (NZE) is the variant of the English language spoken and written by most English-speaking New Zealanders. Its language code in ISO and Internet standards is en-NZ. It is the first language of the majority of the populati ...
with the macrons that indicate
long vowels In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived or actual duration of a vowel sound when pronounced. Vowels perceived as shorter are often called short vowels and those perceived as longer called long vowels. On one hand, many languages do not d ...
. The correct pronunciation in Māori is ; other colloquial pronunciations exist, however. These include the
British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...
(), as defined in the
Chambers Dictionary ''The Chambers Dictionary'' was first published by William and Robert Chambers as ''Chambers's English Dictionary'' in 1872. It was an expanded version of ''Chambers's Etymological Dictionary'' of 1867, compiled by James Donald. A second editio ...
in 2003. The kākāpō is placed in the family
Strigopidae The New Zealand parrot family, Strigopidae,Nestoridae and Strigopidae are described in the same article, Bonaparte, C.L. (1849) ''Conspectus Systematis Ornithologiae''. Therefore, under rules of the ICZN, the first reviser determines priority, ...
together with the two species in the genus '' Nestor'', the
kea The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...
() and the
kākā The New Zealand kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') is a large species of parrot of the family New Zealand parrot, Strigopidae found in New Zealand, New Zealand's native forests across the three main Islands of New Zealand. The species is often kn ...
(). The birds are endemic to New Zealand.
Molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
studies have shown that the family Strigopidae is basal to the other three parrot families in the order Psittaciformes and diverged from them 33–44 million years ago. The common ancestor of the kākāpō and the two ''Nestor'' species diverged 27–40 million years ago. Earlier
ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
s felt that the kākāpō might be related to the ground parrots and night parrot of Australia due to their similar colouration, but this is contradicted by molecular studies; rather, the cryptic colour seems to be
adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...
to terrestrial habits that evolved twice convergently.


Description

The kākāpō is a large, rotund parrot. Adults can measure from in length with a wingspan of . Males are significantly heavier than females with an average weight of compared with just for females. Kākāpō are the heaviest living species of parrot and on average weigh about more than the largest flying parrot, the
hyacinth macaw The hyacinth macaw (''Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus''), or hyacinthine macaw, is a parrot native to central and eastern South America. With a length (from the top of its head to the tip of its long pointed tail) of about one meter it is longer tha ...
. The kākāpō cannot fly, having relatively short wings for its size and lacking the
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
on the
sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major bl ...
(breastbone), where the flight muscles of other birds attach. It uses its wings for balance and to break its fall when leaping from trees. Unlike many other land birds, the kākāpō can accumulate large amounts of body fat. The upper parts of the kākāpō have yellowish moss-green feathers barred or mottled with black or dark brownish grey, blending well with native vegetation. Individuals may have strongly varying degrees of mottling and colour tone and intensity – museum specimens show that some birds had completely yellow colouring. 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 In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
''habroptila''. The kākāpō has a conspicuous facial disc of fine feathers resembling the face of an owl; thus, early European settlers called it the "owl parrot". The beak is surrounded by delicate feathers which resemble vibrissae or "whiskers"; it is possible kākāpō use these to sense the ground as they walk with its head lowered, but there is no evidence for this. The mandible is variable in colour, mostly ivory, with the upper part often bluish-grey. The eyes are dark brown. Kākāpō 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 continually dragged on the ground. Females are easily distinguished from males as they have a narrower and less domed head, narrower and proportionally longer beak, smaller
cere The beak, bill, or Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, wikt:grasp#Verb, grasping, and holding (in wikt:probe ...
and
nostrils A nostril (or naris , : nares ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates, ...
, 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 A brood patch, also known as an incubation patch in older literature, is a patch of featherless skin on the underside of birds during the nesting season. Feathers act as inherent insulators and prevent efficient incubation, to which brood patches ...
of bare skin on the belly. The kākāpō's
altricial Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nest shortly after birth or hatching. Altricial ...
young are first covered with greyish white down, through which their pink skin can be easily seen. They become fully feathered at approximately 70 days old. Juvenile individuals tend to have duller green colouration, more uniform black barring, and less yellow present in their feathers. They are additionally distinguishable because of their shorter tails, wings, and beaks. At this stage, they have a ring of short feathers surrounding their irises that resembles eyelashes. Like many other parrots, kākāpō have a variety of calls. As well as the ''booms'' (see
below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...
for a recording) and ''chings'' of their mating calls, they will often loudly ''skraark''. The kākāpō has a well-developed
sense of smell The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste. In humans, it ...
, which complements its nocturnal lifestyle. It can distinguish between odours while foraging, a behaviour reported in only one other parrot species. The kākāpō has a large olfactory bulb ratio (longest diameter of the olfactory bulb/longest diameter of the brain) indicating that it does, indeed, have a more developed sense of smell than other parrots. One of the most striking characteristics of the kākāpō is its distinct musty-sweet odour. The smell often alerts predators to the presence of kākāpō. As a nocturnal species, the kākāpō has adapted its senses to living in darkness. Its
optic tectum In neuroanatomy, the superior colliculus () is a structure lying on the roof of the mammalian midbrain. In non-mammalian vertebrates, the homologous structure is known as the optic tectum or optic lobe. The adjective form '' tectal'' is commonly ...
, nucleus rotundus, and entopallium are smaller in relation to its overall brain size than those of diurnal parrots. Its retina shares some qualities with that of other nocturnal birds but also has some qualities typical of diurnal birds, lending to best function around twilight. These modifications allow the kākāpō to have enhanced light sensitivity but with poor visual acuity.


Internal anatomy

The skeleton of the kākāpō differs from other parrots in several features associated with flightlessness. Firstly, it has the smallest relative wing size of any parrot. Its wing feathers are shorter, more rounded, less asymmetrical, and have fewer distal barbules to lock the feathers together. The sternum is small and has a low,
vestigial Vestigiality is the retention, during the process of evolution, of genetically determined structures or attributes that have lost some or all of the ancestral function in a given species. Assessment of the vestigiality must generally rely on co ...
keel and a shortened spina externa. As in other flightless birds and some flighted parrots, the furcula is not fused but consists of a pair of clavicles lying in contact with each
coracoid A coracoid is a paired bone which is part of the shoulder assembly in all vertebrates except therian mammals (marsupials and placentals). In therian mammals (including humans), a coracoid process is present as part of the scapula, but this is n ...
. As in other flightless birds, the angle between the coracoid and sternum is enlarged. The kākāpō has a larger pelvis than other parrots. The proximal bones of the leg and wing are disproportionately long and the distal elements are disproportionately short. The
pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectora ...
musculature of the kākāpō is also modified by flightlessness. The pectoralis and supracoracoideus muscles are greatly reduced. The propatagialis tendo longus has no distinct muscle belly. The sternocoracoideus is tendinous. There is an extensive cucularis capitis clavicularis muscle that is associated with the large
crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, Fiber, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same spe ...
.


Genetics

Because kākāpō passed through a
genetic bottleneck A population bottleneck or genetic bottleneck is a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events such as famines, earthquakes, floods, fires, disease, and droughts; or human activities such as genocide, speciocide, wid ...
, in which their world population was reduced to 49 birds, they are extremely inbred and have low genetic diversity. This manifests in lower disease resistance and in fertility problems: 61% of kākāpō eggs fail to hatch. Beginning in 2015, the Kākāpō 125+ project has sequenced the
genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
of all living kākāpō, as well as some museum specimens. The project is a collaboration led by Genomics Aotearoa and a collaboration with a team of international collaborators. A DNA sequence analysis was performed on 35 kākāpō genomes of the surviving descendants of an isolated island population, and on 14 genomes, mainly from museum specimens, of the now extinct mainland population. An analysis of the long-term genetic impact of small population size indicated that the small island kākāpō population had a reduced number of harmful
mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...
s compared to the number in mainland individuals. It was hypothesized that the reduced mutational load of the island population was due to a combination of
genetic drift Genetic drift, also known as random genetic drift, allelic drift or the Wright effect, is the change in the Allele frequency, frequency of an existing gene variant (allele) in a population due to random chance. Genetic drift may cause gene va ...
and the purging of deleterious mutations through increased
inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely genetic distance, related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genet ...
and
purifying selection In natural selection, negative selection or purifying selection is the selective removal of alleles that are deleterious. This can result in stabilising selection through the purging of deleterious genetic polymorphisms that arise through random ...
that occurred since the isolation of this population from the mainland about 10,000 years ago. Purging of deleterious mutations occurs when there is selection against recessive or partially recessive detrimental
allele An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule. Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), ...
s as they are expressed in the homozygous state.


Habitat

Before the arrival of humans, the kākāpō was widely distributed throughout both main islands of New Zealand. Although it may have inhabited
Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island (, 'Aurora, glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island wit ...
before human arrival, it has not been found in the extensive fossil collections from there. Kākāpō lived in a variety of habitats, including tussocklands, scrublands and coastal areas. It also inhabited forests dominated by podocarps (
rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk (botany), trunk up to in diameter. It is endemis ...
, mataī,
kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori language, Māori) and white pine, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. A Podocarpaceae, podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining hei ...
,
tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of Podocarpus, podocarp tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, ...
), beeches, tawa, and rātā. In
Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
, areas of avalanche and slip debris with regenerating and heavily fruiting vegetation – such as five finger, wineberry, bush lawyer, tutu, hebes, and
coprosma ''Coprosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands. Description The name ''Copros ...
s – became known as "kākāpō gardens". The kākāpō is considered to be a "habitat generalist". Though they are now confined to islands free of predation, they were once able to live in nearly any climate present on the islands of New Zealand. They survived dry, hot summers on the North Island as well as cold winter temperatures in the sub-alpine areas of Fiordland. Kākāpō seem to have preferred broadleaf or mountain beech and Hall's tōtara forest with mild winters and high rainfall, but the species was not exclusively forest-dwelling.


Ecology and behaviour

The kākāpō is primarily nocturnal; it roosts under cover in trees or on the ground during the day and moves around its territories at night. Though the kākāpō cannot fly, it is an excellent climber, ascending to the crowns of the tallest trees. It can also "parachute" – descending by leaping and spreading its wings. In this way it may travel a few metres at an angle of less than 45 degrees. With only 3.3% of its mass made up of pectoral muscle, it is no surprise that the kākāpō cannot use its wings to lift its heavy body off the ground. Because of its flightlessness, it has very low metabolic demands in comparison to flighted birds. It is able to survive easily on very little or on very low quality food sources. Unlike most other bird species, the kākāpō is entirely herbivorous, feeding on fruits, seeds, leaves, stems, and rhizomes. When foraging, kākāpō tend to leave crescent-shaped wads of fiber in the vegetation behind them, called "browse signs". Having lost the ability to fly, it has developed strong legs. Locomotion is often by way of a rapid "jog-like" gait by which it can move several kilometres. A female has been observed making two return trips each night during nesting from her nest to a food source up to away and the male may walk from its home range to a mating arena up to away during the mating season (October–January). Young birds indulge in play fighting, and one bird will often lock the neck of another under its chin. The kākāpō is curious by nature and has been known to interact with humans. Conservation staff and volunteers have engaged extensively with some kākāpō, which have distinct personalities. Despite this, kākāpō are solitary birds. The kākāpō was a very successful species in pre-human New Zealand, and was well adapted to avoid the birds of prey which were their only predators. As well as the New Zealand falcon, there were two other birds of prey in pre-human New Zealand:
Haast's eagle Haast's eagle (''Hieraaetus moorei'') is an Extinction, extinct species of eagle that lived in the South Island of New Zealand, commonly accepted to be the of Māori mythology.
and Eyles' harrier. All these raptors soared overhead searching for prey in daylight, and to avoid them the kākāpō evolved camouflaged plumage and became nocturnal. When a kākāpō feels threatened, it freezes, so that it is more effectively camouflaged in the vegetation its plumage resembles. Kākāpō were not entirely safe at night, when the
laughing owl The laughing owl (''Ninox albifacies''), also known as ''whēkau'', the laughing jackass, or the white-faced owl, is an Extinction, extinct species of owl that was Endemism, endemic to New Zealand. Plentiful when European settlers arrived in Ne ...
was active, and it is apparent from owl nest deposits on Canterbury limestone cliffs that kākāpō were among their prey. Kākāpō defensive adaptations were no use, however, against the mammalian predators introduced to New Zealand by humans. Birds hunt very differently from mammals, relying on their powerful vision to find prey, and thus they usually hunt by day. Mammalian predators, in contrast to birds, often hunt by night, and rely on their sense of smell and hearing to find prey; a common way for humans to hunt kākāpō was by releasing trained dogs.


Breeding

Kākāpō are 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. These leks can be up to from a kākāpō's usual territory and are an average of apart within the lek arena. Males remain in the region of their court throughout the courting season. 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 ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk (botany), trunk up to in diameter. It is endemis ...
fruit. In mating years, males may make "booming" calls for 6–8 hours every night for more than four months. Each court consists of one or more saucer-shaped depressions or "bowls" dug in the ground by the male, up to deep and long enough to fit the half-metre length of the bird. The kākāpō is one of only a handful of birds in the world which actually constructs its leks. Bowls are often created next to rock faces, banks, or tree trunks to help reflect sound: the bowls themselves function as amplifiers to enhance the projection of the males' booming mating calls. Each male's bowls are connected by a network of trails or tracks which may extend along a ridge or in diameter around a hilltop. Males meticulously clear their bowls and tracks of debris. To attract females, males make loud, low-frequency (below 100 Hz) booming calls from their bowls by inflating a
thoracic The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main ...
sac. They start with low grunts, which increase in volume as the sac inflates. After a sequence of about 20 loud booms, the male kākāpō emits a high-frequency, metallic "ching" sound. He stands for a short while before again lowering his head, inflating his chest and starting another sequence of booms. The booms can be heard at least away on a still night; wind can carry the sound at least . Females are attracted by the booms of the competing males; they too may need to walk several kilometres from their territories to the arena. Once a female enters the court of one of the males, the male performs a display in which he rocks from side to side and makes clicking noises with his beak. He turns his back to the female, spreads his wings in display and walks backwards towards her. He will then attempt copulation for 40 minutes or more. Once the birds have mated, the female returns to her home territory to lay eggs and raise the chicks. The male continues booming in the hope of attracting another female. The female kākāpō lays 1–4 eggs per breeding cycle, with several days between eggs. The nest is placed on the ground under the cover of plants or in cavities such as hollow tree trunks. The female incubates the eggs beginning after the first egg is laid, but is forced to leave the nest 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. Kākāpō eggs usually hatch within 30 days, bearing fluffy grey chicks that are quite helpless. The female feeds the chicks for three months, and the chicks remain with the female for some months after fledging. The young chicks are just as vulnerable to predators as the eggs, and young have been killed by many of the same predators that attack adults. Chicks leave the nest at approximately 10 to 12 weeks of age. As they gain greater independence, their mothers may feed the chicks sporadically for up to 3 months. The kākāpō is long-lived, with an average life expectancy of 60 (plus or minus 20) years, and tends to reach adolescence before it starts breeding. Males start booming at about 5 years of age. It was thought that females reached
sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...
at 9 years of age, but four five-year-old females have now been recorded reproducing. The kākāpō does not breed every year and has one of the lowest rates of reproduction among birds. Breeding occurs only in years when trees mast (fruit heavily), providing a plentiful food supply. Rimu mast occurs only every three to five years, so in rimu-dominant forests, such as those on Whenua Hou, kākāpō breeding occurs as infrequently. Another aspect of the kākāpō's breeding system is that a female can alter the sex ratio of her offspring depending on her condition. A female in good condition produces more male offspring (males have 30%–40% more body weight than females). Females produce offspring biased towards the dispersive sex when competition for resources (such as food) is high and towards the non-dispersive sex when food is plentiful. A female kākāpō will likely be able to produce eggs even when there are few resources, while a male kākāpō will be more capable of perpetuating the species when there are plenty, by mating with several females. This supports the
Trivers–Willard hypothesis In evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology, the Trivers–Willard hypothesis, formally proposed by Robert Trivers and Dan Willard in 1973, suggests that female mammals adjust the sex ratio of offspring in response to maternal condition, ...
. The relationship between clutch sex ratio and maternal diet has conservation implications, because a captive population maintained on a high quality diet will produce fewer females and therefore fewer individuals valuable to the recovery of the species.


Feeding

The beak of the kākāpō is adapted for grinding food finely. For this reason, the kākāpō has a very small
gizzard The gizzard, also referred to as the ventriculus, gastric mill, and gigerium, is an organ found in the digestive tract of some animals, including archosaurs (birds and other dinosaurs, crocodiles, alligators, pterosaurs), earthworms, some gast ...
compared to other birds of their size. It is entirely
herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...
, eating green shoots, leaf buds, rhizomes and tubers of native plants, as well as seeds, fruits, pollen, moss, fungi and even the sapwood of trees. A study in 1984 identified 25 plant species as kākāpō food. It is specifically fond of the fruit of the
rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk (botany), trunk up to in diameter. It is endemis ...
tree, and will feed on it exclusively during seasons when it is abundant. The kākāpō strips out the nutritious parts of the plant out with its beak, leaving a ball of indigestible fibre. These little clumps of plant fibres are a distinctive sign of the presence of the bird. The kākāpō is believed to employ bacteria in the fore-gut to ferment and help digest plant matter. Kākāpō diet changes according to the season. The plants eaten most frequently during the year include some species of '' Lycopodium ramulosum'', ''Lycopodium fastigium'', ''Schizaea fistulosa'', ''Blechnum minus'', ''Blechnum procerum'', ''Cyathodes juniperina'', ''Dracophyllum longifolium'', ''Olearia colensoi'' and ''Thelymitra venosa''. Individual plants of the same species are often treated differently. Kākāpō may forage heavily in certain areas, leaving, on occasion, more than 30 droppings and conspicuous evidence of herbivory. These areas, which are mostly dominated by mānuka and yellow silver pine, range from 100 – 5,000 sq. metres (1,076 – 53,820 sq. feet) per individual. Preserved
coprolite A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name ...
s of kākāpō have been studied to obtain information on the historic diet of the bird. This research has identified 67 native plant genera previously unrecorded as food sources for kākāpō including native mistletoes as well as '' Dactylanthus taylorii''.


Conservation

Fossil records indicate that in pre-Polynesian times, the kākāpō was New Zealand's third most common bird and it was widespread on all three main islands. However, the kākāpō population in New Zealand has declined massively since human settlement of the country, and its conservation status as ranked by the Department of Conservation continues to be "Nationally Critical". Since the 1890s, conservation efforts have been made to prevent extinction. The most successful scheme has been the Kākāpō Recovery Programme; this was implemented in 1995 and continues to this day. Kākāpō are absolutely protected under New Zealand's
Wildlife Act 1953 Wildlife Act 1953 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand. Under the act, the majority of native New Zealand vertebrate species are protected by law, and may not be hunted, killed, eaten or possessed. Violations may be punished with fines of up t ...
. The species is also listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meaning international export/import (including parts and derivatives) is regulated.


Human impact

The first factor in the decline of the kākāpō was the arrival of humans. Māori folklore suggests that the kākāpō was found throughout the country when the
Polynesians Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sout ...
first arrived in
Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...
700 years ago.
Subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
and
midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...
deposits show that the bird was present throughout the North and South Island before and during early Māori times. Māori hunted the kākāpō for food and for their skins and feathers, which were made into cloaks. Due to its inability to fly, strong scent and habit of freezing when threatened, the kākāpō was easy prey for the Māori and their dogs. Its eggs and chicks were also preyed upon by the
Polynesian rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), or , is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. Contrary to its vernacular name, the Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asi ...
or kiore, which the Māori brought to New Zealand as a stowaway. Furthermore, the deliberate clearing of vegetation by Māori reduced the habitable range for kākāpō. Although the kākāpō was extinct in many parts of the islands by the time Europeans arrived, including the Tararua and
Aorangi Range The Aorangi Range (previously known as the Haurangi Range) is a mountain range on the North Island of New Zealand. It is located in the Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner ...
s, it was locally abundant in parts of New Zealand, such as the central North Island and forested parts of the South Island. Although kākāpō numbers were reduced by Māori settlement, they declined much more rapidly after European colonisation. Beginning in the 1840s,
Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
settlers cleared vast tracts of land for farming and grazing, further reducing kākāpō habitat. They brought more dogs and other mammalian predators, including domestic cats, black rats and stoats. In the 1880s, large numbers of mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels) were released in New Zealand to reduce rabbit numbers, but they also preyed heavily on many native species including the kākāpō. Other browsing animals, such as introduced deer, competed with the kākāpō for food, and caused the extinction of some of its preferred plant species. The kākāpō was reportedly still present near the head of the
Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...
as late as 1894, with one of the last records of a kākāpō in the North Island being a single bird caught in the Kaimanawa Ranges by Te Kepa Puawheawhe in 1895.


Early protection efforts

In 1891, the New Zealand government set aside Resolution Island in Fiordland as a nature reserve. In 1894, the government appointed Richard Henry as caretaker. A keen naturalist, Henry was aware that native birds were declining, and began catching and moving kākāpō and kiwi from the mainland to the predator-free Resolution Island. In six years, he moved more than 200 kākāpō to Resolution Island. By 1900, however,
stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...
s had swum to Resolution Island and colonised it; they wiped out the nascent kākāpō population within 6 years. In 1903, three kākāpō were moved from Resolution Island to the nature reserve of
Little Barrier Island Little Barrier Island, or Hauturu in Māori language, Māori (the official Māori title is ''Te Hauturu-o-Toi''), lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located to the north of Auckland, the island is separated from the ...
(Hauturu-o-Toi) north-east of
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, but feral cats were present and the kākāpō were never seen again. In 1912, three kākāpō were moved to another reserve,
Kapiti Island Kapiti Island (), sometimes written as Kāpiti Island, is an island nature reserve located off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand and within the Kāpiti Coast District. Parts of the island were previously farmed, but it is ...
, north-west of
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
. One of them survived until at least 1936, despite the presence of feral cats for part of the intervening period. By the 1920s, the kākāpō was extinct in the
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
and its range and numbers in the South Island were declining.


1950–1989 conservation efforts

In the 1950s, the New Zealand Wildlife Service was established and began making regular expeditions to search for the kākāpō, mostly in Fiordland and what is now the Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island. Seven Fiordland expeditions between 1951 and 1956 found only a few recent signs. Finally, in 1958 a kākāpō was caught and released in the Milford Sound / Piopiotahi catchment area in Fiordland. Six more kākāpō were captured in 1961; one was released and the other five were transferred to the aviaries of the Mount Bruce Bird Reserve near
Masterton Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ...
in the North Island. Within months, four of the birds had died and the fifth died after about four years. In the next 12 years, regular expeditions found few signs of the kākāpō, indicating that numbers were continuing to decline. Only one bird was captured in 1967; it died the following year. By the early 1970s, it was uncertain whether the kākāpō was still an extant species. At the end of 1974, scientists located several more male kākāpō and made the first scientific observations of kākāpō booming. These observations led
Don Merton Donald Vincent Merton (22 February 193910 April 2011) was a New Zealand conservation movement, conservationist best known for saving the black robin from extinction. He also discovered the Lek (mating arena), lek breeding system of the kākāp ...
to speculate for the first time that the kākāpō had a lek breeding system. From 1974 to 1978 a total of 18 kākāpō were discovered in Fiordland, but all were males. This raised the possibility that the species would become extinct, because there might be no surviving females. One male bird was captured in the Milford area in 1975, christened "Richard Henry", and transferred to Maud Island. All the birds the Wildlife Service discovered from 1951 to 1976 were in U-shaped glaciated valleys flanked by almost-vertical cliffs and surrounded by high mountains. Such extreme terrain had slowed colonisation by browsing mammals, leaving islands of virtually unmodified native vegetation. However, even here, stoats were present and by 1976 the kākāpō was gone from the valley floors and only a few males survived high on the most inaccessible parts of the cliffs. Before 1977, no expedition had been to Stewart Island to search for the bird. In 1977, sightings of kākāpō were reported on the island. An expedition to Rakiura found a track and bowl system on its first day; soon after, it located several dozen kākāpō. The finding in an area of fire-modified
scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
and forest raised hope that the population would include females. The total population was estimated at 100 to 200 birds.
Mustelid The Mustelidae (; from Latin , weasel) are a diverse family of carnivoran mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, polecats, martens, grisons, and wolverines. Otherwise known as mustelids (), they form the largest family in the suborde ...
s have never colonised Stewart Island, but feral cats were present. During a survey, it was apparent that cats killed kākāpō at a rate of 56% per year. At this rate, the birds could not survive on the island and therefore an intensive cat control was introduced in 1982, after which no cat-killed kākāpō were found. However, to ensure the survival of the remaining birds, scientists decided later that this population should be transferred to predator-free islands; this operation was carried out between 1982 and 1997.


Kākāpō Recovery programme

In the 1980s the kākāpō were translocated to islands with no predators to maintain their genetic diversity, to avoid spreading harmful diseases, and to reduce interbreeding. In 1989, a Kākāpō Recovery plan was developed, and a Kākāpō Recovery programme was established in 1995. The New Zealand Department of Conservation replaced the Wildlife Service for this task. The first action of the plan was to relocate all the remaining kākāpō to suitable islands for them to breed. None of the New Zealand islands were ideal to establish kākāpō without rehabilitation by extensive re-vegetation and the eradication of introduced mammalian predators and competitors. Four islands were finally chosen: Maud, Little Barrier, Codfish and
Mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...
. Sixty-five kākāpō (43 males, 22 females) were successfully transferred onto the four islands in five translocations. Some islands had to be rehabilitated several times when feral cats, stoats and
weka The weka, also known as the Māori hen or woodhen (''Gallirallus australis'') is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand. Some authorities consider it as the only extant member of the genus '' Gallirallus''. ...
kept appearing. Little Barrier Island was eventually viewed as unsuitable due to the rugged landscape, the thick forest and the continued presence of rats, and its birds were evacuated in 1998. Along with Mana Island, it was replaced with two new kākāpō sanctuaries: Chalky Island (Te Kākahu-o-Tamatea) and Anchor Island. The entire kākāpō population of Codfish Island was temporarily relocated in 1999 to Pearl Island in
Port Pegasus Port Pegasus, officially Port Pegasus / Pikihatiti, (formerly South Port) is at the southern end of Stewart Island in New Zealand. From the 1890s to the 1950s, Port Pegasus was the site of a small fishing community. There was also a small tin ...
while rats were being eliminated from Codfish. All kākāpō on Pearl and Chalky Islands were moved to Anchor Island in 2005.


Supplementary feeding

A key part of the Recovery Programme is the supplementary feeding of females. Kākāpō breed only once every two to five years, when certain plant species, primarily ''Dacrydium cupressinum'' (rimu), produce protein-rich fruit and seeds. During breeding years when rimu masts supplementary food is provided to kākāpō to increase the likelihood of individuals successfully breeding. In 1989, six preferred foods (apples, sweet potatoes, almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and walnuts) were supplied ''
ad libitum In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The roughly synonymous phrase ('in acc ...
'' each night to 12 feeding stations. Males and females ate the supplied foods, and females nested on Little Barrier Island in the summers of 1989–1991 for the first time since 1982, although nesting success was low. Supplementary feeding affects the
sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...
of kākāpō offspring, and can be used to increase the number of female chicks by deliberately manipulating maternal condition. Today commercial parrot food is supplied to all individuals of breeding age on Whenua Hou and Anchor. The amount eaten and individual weights are carefully monitored to ensure that optimum body condition is maintained.


Nest management

Kākāpō nests are intensively managed by wildlife conservation staff. Before Polynesian rats were removed from Whenua Hou, the rats were a threat to the survival of young kākāpō. Of 21 chicks that hatched between 1981 and 1994, nine were either killed by rats or died and were subsequently eaten by rats. All kākāpō islands are now rat-free, but infrared cameras still allow rangers to remotely monitor the behaviour of females and chicks in nests. Data loggers record when mother kākāpō come and go, allowing rangers to pick a time to check on the health of chicks, and also indicate how hard females are having to work to find food. Because mother kākāpō often struggle to successfully rear multiple chicks, Kākāpō Recovery rangers will move chicks between nests as needed. Eggs are often removed from nests for incubation to reduce the likelihood of accidents, such as lost eggs or crushing. If chicks become ill, are not putting on weight, or there are too many chicks in the nest (and no available nest to move them to) they will be hand-reared by the Kākāpō Recovery team. In the 2019 season, eggs were also removed from nests to encourage females to re-nest. By hand-raising the first group of chicks in captivity and encouraging females to lay more eggs, the Kākāpō Recovery Team hoped that overall chick production would be increased. By the end of February 2020, the bird's summer breeding season, these efforts led to the production of 80 chicks, "a record number."


Monitoring

To monitor the kākāpō population continuously, each bird is equipped with a
radio transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna with the purpose of signal transmissio ...
. Every known kākāpō, barring some young chicks, has been given a name by Kākāpō Recovery Programme officials, and detailed data is gathered about every individual. GPS transmitters are also being trialled to provide more detailed data about the movement of individual birds and their habitat use. The signals also provide behavioural data, letting rangers gather information about mating and nesting remotely.


Reintroduction

The Kākāpō Recovery programme has been successful, with the numbers of kākāpō increasing steadily. Adult survival rate and productivity have both improved significantly since the programme's inception. However, the main goal is to establish at least one viable, self-sustaining, unmanaged population of kākāpō as a functional component of the
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
in a protected habitat. To help meet this conservation challenge, Resolution Island () in Fiordland has been prepared for kākāpō re-introduction with
ecological restoration Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, destroyed or transformed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair ...
including the eradication of stoats. Ultimately, the Kākāpō Recovery vision for the species is to restore the (Māori for "life-force") of the kākāpō by breeding 150 adult females. Four males were re-introduced to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari in the North Island on 21 July 2023, becoming the first kākāpō living in mainland New Zealand in almost 40 years. Despite extensive improvements to the perimeter fence, in October 2023, one of the kākāpō escaped by using a downed tree to climb out. The bird was located using the signal from its GPS transmitter and returned to the sanctuary. A second group of six birds was introduced to the sanctuary in September. However, two further kākāpō found a way over the fence, and in November the Department of Conservation temporarily removed three birds from the sanctuary to a southern predator-free island, leaving the kākāpō population in the sanctuary at seven. The Department commented that "Kākāpō are flightless but are excellent climbers who can use their wings to parachute from treetops".


Fatal fungal infection

In 2019 an outbreak of the fungal disease ''
aspergillosis Aspergillosis is a fungal infection of usually the lungs, caused by the genus ''Aspergillus'', a common mold that is breathed in frequently from the air, but does not usually affect most people. It generally occurs in people with lung diseases su ...
'' among kākāpō on the island of Whenua Hou infected 21 individuals and led to 9 deaths: two adults, five chicks and two juveniles. Over 50 birds were transported to veterinary centres for diagnostics and treatment.


Population timeline

* 1977: Kākāpō rediscovered on
Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island (, 'Aurora, glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island wit ...
* 1989: Most kākāpō are removed from Rakiura to Whenua Hou and Hauturu-O-Toi * 1995: Kākāpō population consists of 51 individuals; beginning of the Kakapo Recovery Programme * 1999: Kākāpō removed from Hauturu * 2002: A significant breeding season led to 24 chicks being hatched * 2005: 41 females and 45 males, including four fledglings (3 females and 1 male); kākāpō established on Anchor Island * 2009: The total kākāpō population rose to over 100 for the first time since monitoring began. Twenty-two of the 34 chicks had to be hand-reared because of a shortage of food on Codfish Island. * December 2010: Death of the oldest known kākāpō, "Richard Henry", possibly 80 years old. * 2012: Seven kākāpō transferred to Hauturu, in an attempt to establish a successful breeding programme. Kākāpō were last on the island in 1999. * March 2014: With the kākāpō population having increased to 126, the bird's recovery was used by
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
artist Sayraphim Lothian as a metaphor for the recovery of Christchurch, parallelling the "indomitable spirit of these two communities and their determination to rebuild". * 2016: First breeding on Anchor; a significant breeding season, with 32 chicks; kākāpō population grows to over 150 * 2018: After the death of 3 birds, the population reduced to 149 birds. * 2019: An abundance of rimu fruit and the introduction of several new technologies (including
artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...
and 'smart eggs') helped make 2019 the best breeding season on record, with over 200 eggs laid and 72 chicks fledged. According to the Kākāpō Recovery Team at the New Zealand Department of Conservation, this was the earliest and longest breeding season yet. Population reached 200 juvenile or older birds on 17 August 2019. * 2022: The population increased to 252 birds after a productive breeding season and successful artificial insemination. * 2023: Birds are reintroduced to the mainland for the first time. * 2024: As of September 2024, the population had declined slightly to 243 individuals.


In Māori culture

The kākāpō is associated with a rich tradition of Māori folklore and beliefs. The bird's irregular breeding cycle was understood to be associated with heavy fruiting or " masting" events of particular plant species such as the rimu, which led Māori to credit the bird with the ability to tell the future. Used to substantiate this claim were reported observations of these birds dropping the berries of the hinau and tawa trees (when they were in season) into secluded pools of water to preserve them as a food supply for the summer ahead; in legend this became the origin of the Māori practice of immersing food in water for the same purpose.


Use for food and clothing

The Māori considered the meat of the kākāpō a delicacy and, when the bird was widespread, hunted it for food. One source states that its flesh "resembles lamb in taste and texture", although European settlers have described the bird as having a "strong and slightly stringent icflavour". In breeding years, the loud booming calls of the males at their mating arenas made it easy for Māori hunting parties to track the kākāpō 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. Cooking was done in a hāngī or in gourds of boiling oil. The flesh of the bird could be preserved in its own fat and stored in containers for later consumption – hunters of the
Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...
would pack the flesh in baskets made from the inner bark of
tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of Podocarpus, podocarp tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, ...
tree or in containers constructed from
kelp Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order (biology), order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genus, genera. Despite its appearance and use of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, kelp is technically not a plant but a str ...
. Bundles of kākāpō tail feathers were attached to the sides of these containers to provide decoration and a way to identify their contents. The Māori also used the bird's eggs for food. As well as eating the meat of the kākāpō, Māori would use kākāpō skins with the feathers still attached or individually weave in kākāpō 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 considered as (treasures), so much so that the old Māori adage "You have a kākāpō cape and you still complain of the cold" was used to describe someone who is never satisfied. Only one cloak fully made of kākāpō feathers is known to still exist. It dates from the 1810s–1820s and is held in the Perth Museum in Scotland; the museum in collaboration with the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
and Māori advisers have restored the cloak. Kākāpō feathers were also used to decorate the heads of , but were removed before use in combat. Despite this, the kākāpō was also regarded as an affectionate pet by the Māori. This was corroborated by European settlers in New Zealand in the 19th century, among them
George Edward Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...
, who once wrote in a letter to an associate that his pet kākāpō's behaviour towards him and his friends was "more like that of a dog than a bird".


In the media

The conservation of the kākāpō has made the species well known. Many books and documentaries detailing the plight of the kākāpō have been produced in recent years, one of the earliest being ''Two in the Bush'', made by
Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell Order of the British Empire, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservation movement, conservationist, and television presenter. He was born in Jamshedpur in British Ind ...
for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in 1962. A feature-length documentary, ''The Unnatural History of the Kakapo'' won two major awards at the Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival. Two of the most significant documentaries, both made by NHNZ, are ''Kakapo – Night Parrot'' (1982) and ''To Save the Kakapo'' (1997). The BBC's Natural History Unit featured the kākāpō, including a sequence with Sir David Attenborough in '' The Life of Birds''. It was one of the endangered animals
Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...
and
Mark Carwardine Mark Carwardine ( IPA: /kɑː'wɔːdiːn/ ; born 9 March 1959) is a British conservationist who achieved widespread recognition with his 20-year conservation project – '' Last Chance to See'' – which involved round-the-world expeditions wi ...
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 Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
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 kākāpō on Codfish Island / Whenua Hou. Footage of a kākāpō named
Sirocco Sirocco ( ) or scirocco is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season. Names ''Sirocco'' derives from '' šurūq'' (), verbal noun o ...
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. Sirocco became the inspiration for the party parrot, a popular animated emoji frequently associated with the workflow application Slack. The kākāpō was featured in the episode "Strange Islands" of the documentary series '' South Pacific'', originally aired on 13 June 2009, in the episode "Worlds Apart" of the series '' The Living Planet'', and in episode 3 of the BBC's ''New Zealand Earth's Mythical Islands''. In a 2019 kākāpō awareness campaign, the Kākāpō Recovery Programme New Zealand National Partner,
Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and i ...
, ran a ''Search for a Saxophonist'' to provide suitable mood music for encouraging mating to coincide with the 2019 kākāpō breeding season. The search and footage from the islands where breeding was taking place were featured on the ''
Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regi ...
'' programme. The kākāpō was featured in the mobile game "Kākāpō Run" developed by a UK conservation charity. This game aimed to raise support for kākāpō conservation by engaging players in fun, educational gameplay. A study found that playing the game helped increase positive attitudes and actions related to kākāpō protection, such as support for managing invasive predators and responsible pet care, though it did not lead to more donations. The bird was voted New Zealand's
bird of the year Bird of the Year () is an annual election-based competition run by the New Zealand conservation organisation Forest & Bird to elect a New Zealand native "Bird of the Year". The competition is intended to raise awareness of the conservation thre ...
in 2008 and 2020.


See also

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Cats in New Zealand Cats are a popular pet in New Zealand. Cat ownership is occasionally raised as a controversial environmental issue, conservation issue due to the Cat predation on wildlife, predation of endangered species, such as birds and lizards, by feral cats ...
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Conservation in New Zealand Conservation in New Zealand has a history associated with both Māori and Europeans. Both groups of people caused a loss of species and both altered their behaviour to a degree after realising their effect on indigenous flora and fauna. Prote ...
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Island syndrome Island syndrome describes the differences in Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, physiology and ethology, behaviour of island, insular species compared to their continental counterparts. These differences evolve due to the different evolut ...


References


Sources

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Further reading

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External links


Interview with NZ conservationists Alison Ballance and the late Don Merton

Video footage from the BBC
including '' Last Chance to See'' and '' Wild Down Under'' {{Authority control Birds described in 1845 Endemic birds of New Zealand Flightless birds Māori culture Parrots of Oceania Strigopidae Taxa named by George Robert Gray Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN Critically endangered biota of Oceania