Meet the kakapo, a rare and flightless bird in the world. With its strikingly colorful feathers and unique habits, this creature has captured the hearts of people all over the world. Let’s explore some interesting kakapo facts and discover what makes these birds so special.
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Strigopidae
Genus: Strigops
1. The kakapo looks like an owl
Despite being classified as a parrot species, the kakapo bears little resemblance to its avian counterparts. Instead, it more closely resembles an owl due to its striking facial disc. This disc is surrounded by brown, bristle-like feathers that encircle the ivory-colored beak, eyes, and ears. As a result, early European settlers called it the “owl parrot.”
These birds are mossy green, intermixed with brown and yellow patches, while their underbelly is tinted with yellowish-green with yellow stripes. Its coloration helps them blend in with their forest floor habitat. In addition, their feet are typically gray, and their eyes are dark brown.
Kakapos hold the title of being the heaviest parrot species, with males being larger than females. The males weigh about 4.4 pounds (2 kg) while the females are lighter with 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg). The biggest one has a size of about 24 inches (60 cm) in length. The bird accumulates significant amounts of energy as body fat.
2. They all have a Name
Currently, 211 adult birds have been identified and meticulously monitored due to their low population. Each bird has been given a name. More recent hatchlings have been given Maori names like Taeatanga, Ra, or Ruapuke while older ones receive English monikers such as Ruth, Boomer, and Flossieh. Some birds have been named after conservationists, such as Attenborough or Richard Henry, in recognition of their efforts to rescue and protect these birds.
In addition to their names, detailed records of their family and life history are documented. For instance, Maggie the Kakapo was the second female bird to be caught on Steward Islands and was first discovered in March of 1980. Sadly, she died in 2014 due to a landslide.
3. Habitat
The kakapo is native to New Zealand and was once found across both main islands, from the North and South Islands to Stewart Islands.
However, the arrival of humans and their pets such as cats and dogs led to a drastic decline in their population. In an effort to save the species, all remaining kakapos were relocated from these islands to predator-free locations including Chalky, Codfish, Little Barrier, and Maud Island between 1980 and 1997.
They live in subalpine scrublands, lowland podocarp forests, and upland beech forests of New Zealand.
4. They are the world’s only flightless parrots
What sets kakapos apart from all other parrot species is their inability to fly. Yes, you heard it right! These birds can’t fly. Their wings are small (wingspan is only a few feet) and have limited muscles, with only 3.3% of their muscle mass comprised of pectoral muscles. On the other birds, this percentage is much higher. They don’t even have a keel on their breast bones, a feature where wing muscles are linked.
Despite being flightless, kakapos make up for their sturdy legs that allow them to cover great distances while seeking food. They’re pretty excellent trekkers.
They are able to scale the tallest trees within their territory, thanks to their short yet powerful legs. While climbing, they utilize their wings to stay balanced. When descending, they use their wings like a parachute, enabling them to land more smoothly at a 45-degree angle.
Female birds that weigh less can do this better. They can glide using their short wings, covering a distance of approximately 10 to 13 feet (3 to 4 meters) before stopping.
5. They have unique ways to defend
So, if kakapos cannot fly, how can they protect themselves from predators?
In the previous habitat, their predators are mainly birds of prey relying on sight for hunting. That’s why they develop a self-defend mechanism by freezing and remaining motionless. This tactic even works better with their camouflage mossy green-yellow feathers, allowing them to blend in with the vegetation surroundings.
However, this strategy doesn’t work with mammalian predators due to the kakapos’ distinctive smell. While the smell made it easier for the birds to locate each other, it also made them vulnerable to detection by predators, regardless of whether they remained still or not. Some have described the kakapos’ scent as honey or flower-like, while others claim it is musty. (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/100929-birds-body-odor-rats-new-zealand-science-environment).
6. Behavior
Unlike most prey animals, New Zealand owl parrots do not fear humans and are often curious, even enjoying interacting with them. Their friendly and gentle personality has made them popular pets among both Māori and European immigrants. These parrots’ behaviors were once compared to that of dogs rather than birds.
Despite their engagement with humans, kakapos are not actually social birds and tend to lead solitary lives. They look for food alone in the forests at night and sleep in small burrows or rocky fields during the day. They only come together in the breeding season or play with other nest mates when they are young.
Due to their poor eyesight and nocturnal nature, these birds primarily depend on their sense of smell. With 667 functional olfactory receptors, owl parrots’ sense of smell is one and a half times stronger than humans, who have 400 receptors. Furthermore, their olfactory bulb is quite huge. Their keen sense of smell enables them to differentiate between various scents when looking for food, setting them apart from other parrots.
Kakapos squawk like other parrots, but their vocabulary is more diverse, including sounds that resemble a pig’s squeal or a donkey’s bray.
7. Diet
Kakapos primarily consume a herbivorous diet consisting of native plants (buds, rhizomes, leaves, and flowers), pollen, fruits, and seeds. Additionally, they supplement their diet with moss, fungi, bark, and sapwood of trees, with their food preferences changing throughout the year.
One of their favorites is the fruits of the rimu tree which can constitute their entire diet when available. However, this happens only once every two to five years.
Kakapos have a unique way of processing their food that sets them apart from other birds. Unlike the others, they don’t heavily depend on their gizzard, a specialized organ in the digestive tract that smashes food. Instead, they use their beaks to finely crush food. That’s why they have a relatively small gizzard.
When eating, these creatures extract the nutritious parts of the plants, discard the rest, and leave behind a trail of indigestible plant fibers. This can serve as evidence of their presence in an area.
8. They call for love
The breeding season of kakapos happens between December and April. However, they only breed every two to four years when the Rumi Tree produces abundant fruit. Scientists have discovered that the vitamin D and Calcium content of this fruit encourages the breeding of these creatures.
During this time, the males set up a unique “lek” mating system. They will venture away from their home range to establish an arena or lek on ridges and mountaintops. This is where several males will congregate and exhibit their courtship behavior to attract females. This behavior is exclusive to this parrot species.
The birds dig a shallow hole about 10 cm (4 inches) deep in the ground near a tree or rock face. This helps them to amplify their vocalizations and send them further. To get the best spot, the males can even fight by using their beaks and claws while screeching and growling. Unfortunately, this contest can be incredibly aggressive and result in serious injury or death for some males.
After getting a hole, the male New Zealand flightless parrot positions itself in it. He then puffs up his chest like a bullfrog, raises his thorax, bobs his head, and emits loud, low-frequency booming calls. This mating ritual can last for 6 to 8 hours each night for more than 4 months! In still weather conditions, their mating calls can carry up to 0.62 miles ( 1 km), and on windy nights, they can travel as far as 3.1 miles (5 km).
To optimize the amplification of their calls, males meticulously maintain and clean their holes.
In addition to wooing potential mates, the male kakapos rock from side to side and use their beaks to produce clicking noise.
9. Reproduction
Upon hearing the males’ calls, female kakapos select their preferred partners and engage in the mating that typically lasts from 2 – 14 minutes. Once the breeding is complete, males keep calling out for another love while females return to their place to construct a nest.
In contrast to most avian species, kakapos construct their nests on the ground or within hollowed tree trunks, and sometimes even underground within cavities.
Each breeding season, the female lays a clutch of 1-4 eggs with intervals of several days between each. The mother will incubate the eggs alone for about 29-30 days. Unlike the mother giant Pacific octopus, the female kakapo can’t starve just to watch for her offspring. She needs to go outside at night to look for food.
During this time, the predators may take advantage and eat the eggs. Additionally, if the females do not return, the eggs may perish due to the cold.
Grey chicks hatch after approximately 30 days. Their gender is influenced by the mother’s diet. If the mother gets enough food and is in good health, the chicks are more likely to be males. However, in times of competition and scarce food, the mother tends to produce more female chicks.
Before fledging, the chicks are fed for 3 months and stay with the mother for 6 months. Compared to adults, young chicks have fewer yellow feathers and their green feathers appear less bright. They possess shorter beaks, wings, and tails.
Kakapos have a long lifespan. They can live for 58 years and can live up to 90 years. Since these species are flightless, their metabolic rate is reduced, resulting in low daily energy consumption. This could potentially explain the species’ longevity.
Because they can live that long, they need more time to reach sexual maturity than other bird species. Male kakapos achieve sexual maturity at 5 years old, while females typically achieve it at 9 years old or later.
10. They are important to the Māori people
The largest flightless parrot holds a special significance in Māori history, attributed to its unique breeding cycle that aligns with the rimu tree’s heavy fruiting. Due to this, the Māori believed that these birds had the ability to predict the future.
In addition, there are reports of kakapos dropping a bountiful of berries in water pools to store food for summertime. This behavior led to the Māori tradition of soaking food in water for preservation.
This kind of parrot is also an accessible source of protein for the Māori over 700 years ago. They employed various hunting methods, including snares, traps, dogs, and even fire to startle the birds to catch them easier. The bird eggs are also collected and consumed.
Apart from their value as a food source, the Māori also hunted owl parrots for their feathers and skin. The feathers were expertly woven with flax fiber to create clothing items such as cloaks, which could consist of up to 11,000 individual feathers. These intricately woven kakapo feather cloaks were not only stunningly beautiful but also provided exceptional warmth to their wearers. Consequently, they remain highly prized by the Māori.
11. They are the rarest birds on earth
The kakapo, which was once relatively abundant, has now become critically endangered. Initially, their only predators were birds of prey, such as the New Zealand falcon, Eyles’s harrier, and the now-extinct Haast’s eagle.
However, the arrival of humans led to an increase in the number of kakapo predators. Dogs, cats, black rats, weasels, and mustelids like ferrets and stoats all pose a threat to these birds. Additionally, introduced deer and possums compete with them for food, and they were heavily hunted.
As a result of these factors, by 1995, the global kakapo population had plummeted to just 51 individuals, making them one of the rarest bird species on earth.
The good news is that the implementation of Kakapo Recovery Programs has been instrumental in the steady growth of their population. All the birds are equipped with GPS tracking devices to m monitor their health and movements. Furthermore, each bird receives a personalized health assessment at the end of every year.
Thanks to these programs, the population of these birds increases to 221 individuals. Despite this positive trend, the kakapos continue to encounter fresh challenges. One of the latest threats they face is aspergillosis, a respiratory infection that killed nine of them in 2019.
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