Kākāpō

Kākāpō is a large, nocturnal, flightless parrot with an owl-like face and moss-green plumage mottled yellow and black. It is the world’s only lek-breeding parrot and the heaviest living parrot. Its pale facial disc, heavy body, grey bill and short grey legs separate it from kākā and kea. Kākāpō are yellow-green, nocturnal and unable to fly; kākā and kea are slimmer, strong-flying parrots.

The species once occupied forests across New Zealand but now survives only at intensively managed, predator-free sites. Birds have been managed on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, Hauturu/Little Barrier Island, Maud Island, and Anchor and Chalky islands in Fiordland. Kākāpō forage at night on leaves, buds, flowers, fern fronds, bark, roots, fruit and seeds. Males boom from track-and-bowl display sites to attract females, while females alone incubate 1–4 eggs and rear the chicks in ground-level cavities.

Kākāpō is Threatened — Nationally Critical (NZ Threat Classification). Predators, disease, low hatching success and the limited supply of predator-free habitat constrain recovery, and the whole population is only a few hundred birds. There is currently no place where the public can see kākāpō in person; every bird lives at a managed site.