The Kakapo

Booming  Names  Resources

If there was a "Guiness Book of Bird Records" the kakapo would be a star!

The Kakapo is the ...
Heaviest parrot in the world
Only flightless parrot
Only nocturnal parrot
Only parrot where the male has inflatable thoracic sacs
Only parrot to have a lek mating system and New Zealand's only lek bird,
and the kakapo is only found in New Zealand.

The Kakapo - a very special bird.

• The kakapo is a very special kind of parrot, it has no close relatives in the world
• The kakapo does not fly but is a good climber and uses its wings for balancing
• The kakapo lives to a mighty age for a bird, getting to over 60 years old
• Kakapo feathers are very soft and moss-green in colour, with some black on its back and yellow-green feathers on its belly
• The kakapo is a good colour for hiding, but enemies can often find them because of the kakapos strong smell
• Kakapo are strict vegetarians, and eat the fruit of rimu, kahikatea and Dacrydium intermedium, Mingimingi (Cyathodes) and Coriaria sarmentosa. They eat the seeds of manuka and leatherwood (Olearia colensoi). They eat the shoots of Dracophyllum. In summer and autumn they drink rata nectar, and in winter they eat sun orchid bulbs.

Some birds tweet but the kakapo male BOOMS!    Learn about the kakapo booming

NEWS FLASH!

Kakapo in danger of becoming extinct!

Before humans arrived in New Zealand the kakapo lived a happy existence throughout the country with few problems. But people hunted the kakapo, cleared the forests, and brought new enemies!

• The long breeding season of the kakapo leaves them vulnerable to predators
• The kakapo only breed when the rimu and kahikatea are laden with fruit, which can mean the kakapo does not try to nest every year
• They have a strong scent which attracts predators
• The mother kakapo has to leave her chicks alone while she is gathering food, and then the kakapos enemies can kill them

• Possums eat the same food as the kakapo, so the kakapo often go hungry because the possum has eaten their food

Is

anyone helping

the

kakapo?

The Department of Conservation (DOC) staff care for the kakapo and are trying to save them from extinction.

All kakapo live on New Zealand's off-shore islands, where there are no predators. The kakapo were moved there by DOC staff to protect them from predators on the mainland. Kakapo were living on Little Barrier Island but have been moved from there to Maud Island and Codfish Islands. See if you can find the islands on a New Zealand map.

DOC staff make sure all the kakapo have names - click here to learn them.

Non-governmental environment groups, such as Forest and Bird, keep encouraging the government to invest money to help save our endangered species from extinction.

In November 2000 the Kakapo Recovery Programme partners - DOC, Forest and Bird and Comalco - launched an official website all about the kakapo. Check it out to learn all about the Kakapo Recovery Programme and the kakapo - www.kakaporecovery.org.nz

The kakapo information was written in September 1999. Updated in November 2000.

Learn more about the Kakapo... Booming  Names  Resources