Kakapo
A species of Kakapos, Also known as Night Owl Scientific name : Strigops habroptila Genus : Kakapos
Kakapo, A species of Kakapos
Also known as:
Night Owl
Botanical name: Strigops habroptila
Genus: Kakapos
Content
Description General Info
Description
The kakapo is a large, rotund parrot. Adults can measure from 58 to 64 cm (23 to 25 in) in length, and weight can vary from 0.95 to 4 kg (2 to 9 lb) at maturity. Males are larger than females. Twenty-eight males were found to average 2 kg (4.4 lb) in one study, and 39 males were found to average 2.06 kg (4.5 lb) in another. In the same studies, 28 females were found to average 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) and 18 females were found to average 1.28 kg (2.8 lb), respectively. Kakapo are the heaviest living species of parrot and on average weigh about 400 g (14 oz) more than the largest flying parrot, the hyacinth macaw. The kakapo cannot fly, having relatively short wings for its size and lacking the keel on the sternum (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 kakapo can accumulate large amounts of body fat. The upper parts of the kakapo 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 habroptilus. The kakapo 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 kakapo 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. Kakapo feet are large, scaly, and, as in all parrots, zygodactyl (two toes face forward and two backward). The pronounced claws are particularly useful for climbing. The ends of the tail feathers often become worn from being 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 and nostrils, more slender and pinkish grey legs and feet, and proportionally longer tail. While their plumage colour is not very different from that of the male, the toning is more subtle, with less yellow and mottling. Nesting females also have a brood patch of bare skin on the belly. The kakapo's 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, kakapo have a variety of calls. As well as the booms (see below for a recording) and chings of their mating calls, they will often loudly skraark. The kakapo has a well-developed sense of smell, which complements its nocturnal lifestyle. It can distinguish between odours while foraging, a behaviour reported in only one other parrot species. The kakapo 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 kakapo is its distinct musty-sweet odour. The smell often alerts predators to the presence of kakapo. As a nocturnal species, the kakapo has adapted its senses to living in darkness. Its optic tectum, 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 kakapo to have enhanced light sensitivity but with poor visual acuity. 
Size
64 cm
Life Expectancy
58 years
Feeding Habits
The kakapo is a herbivore, feeding on a variety of plant materials, including leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, and stems, which it forages for at night. It possesses a distinct preference for the native flora of New Zealand, and its strong beak is adapted to crack open hard seeds. Unique among birds, kakapo are unable to fly, relying on their strong legs to climb trees and access food sources.
Habitat
The kakapo, a habitat generalist, historically inhabited various landscapes across broader regions accompanying New Zealand's main islands. Its natural environments ranged from tussocklands and scrublands to coastal areas and diverse forest ecosystems, including podocarp and beech forests, complemented by areas known as 'kakapo gardens'. These 'gardens' featured regenerating vegetation with high fruit abundance. Although capable of thriving in climates from North Island’s dry summers to Fiordland’s sub-alpine cold winters, the kakapo showed a preference for broadleaf, mountain beech, and Hall's tōtara forests with mild winters and high rainfall. Despite not being exclusively forest-dwelling, mossy Nothofagus forests, especially near open ground or subalpine scrub bordering snow tussock meadows, were significant habitats. Shelter during the day was found in low trees, rock crevices, or under shrubs, with nocturnal activity commencing at night. After being relocated to predator-free islands, the kakapo has successfully adapted to new environmental challenges and food sources.
Dite type
Herbivorous
General Info
Behavior
It seems that the kakapo – like many of New Zealand's bird species – has evolved to occupy an ecological niche normally filled by various species of mammal (the only non-marine mammals native to New Zealand are three species of small bats). The kakapo is primarily nocturnal; it roosts under cover in trees or on the ground during the day and moves around its territories at night. Though the kakapo 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 kakapo 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 kakapo is entirely herbivorous, feeding on fruits, seeds, leaves, stems, and rhizomes. When foraging, kakapo 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 1 km (0.6 mi) away and the male may walk from its home range to a mating arena up to 5 km (3 mi) 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 kakapo is curious by nature and has been known to interact with humans. Conservation staff and volunteers have engaged extensively with some kakapo, which have distinct personalities. While they are curious toward humans, kakapo are not social birds. The kakapo 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 and Eyles' harrier. All these raptors soared overhead searching for prey in daylight, and to avoid them the kakapo evolved camouflaged plumage and became nocturnal. When a kakapo feels threatened, it freezes, so that it is more effectively camouflaged in the vegetation its plumage resembles. Kakapo were not entirely safe at night, when the laughing owl was active, and it is apparent from owl nest deposits on Canterbury limestone cliffs that kakapo were among their prey. Kakapo 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 kakapo was by releasing trained dogs. The kakapo's adaptations to avoid avian predation have thus been useless against its new enemies, and the reason for its massive decline since the introduction of dogs, cats and mustelids (see Conservation: Human impact).
Species Status
Fossil records indicate that in pre-Polynesian times, the kakapo was New Zealand's third most common bird and it was widespread on all three main islands. However, the kakapo 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 Kakapo Recovery Programme; this was implemented in 1995 and continues.
