Kakapo aka Owl Parrots
The Kakapo (meaning night parrot), Strigops habroptilus, is a species of nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand. It is notable for being the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, and the only parrot to have a lek breeding system. It is also the only flightless lek bird and is possibly one of the world's longest-living birds. It is the only species in the genus Strigops and subfamily Strigopinae.
Kakapo are critically endangered, with only 86 living individuals known, all of whom are named. Prehistorically, the ancestral Kakapo migrated to the islands of New Zealand and, in the absence of mammalian predators, it lost the ability to fly. With Polynesian and European colonisation and the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, and stoats, almost all the Kakapo were wiped out. Conservation efforts began in the 1890s, but they were not very successful until the implementation of the Kakapo Recovery Plan in the 1980s. All surviving Kakapo are kept on two predator-free islands, Chalky Island in southwest Fiordland and Codfish Island/Whenuahou near Stewart Island/Rakiura, where they are closely monitored.
Physical description
Kakapo are large, rotund parrots: males measure up to 60 centimetres (24 in) and weigh between 3 and 4 kilograms (7–9 lb) at maturity. Kakapo are unable to fly, having short wings for their size and lacking the pronounced keel bone (sternum) that anchors the flight muscles of other birds. They use their wings for balance, support, and to break their falls when leaping from trees. Unlike other land birds, Kakapo can accumulate large amounts of body fat to store energy.
Kakapo have moss-green feathers barred with black on the back, blending well with native vegetation. As the feathers do not need the strength and stiffness required for flight, they are exceptionally soft, giving rise to the specific epithet habroptilus. Their underbellies, necks, and faces are yellowish with great variability between individuals. It is known from museum specimens that some birds had completely yellow colouring. Kakapo have a facial disc of fine feathers, resembling the face of an owl; thus early European settlers called it the owl parrot. Their beaks are surrounded by delicate "whiskers", which they use to sense the ground as they walk with their heads lowered. The ends of their tail feathers often become worn from being continually dragged on the ground.
The beak of the Kakapo is specially adapted for grinding food very finely. For this reason, Kakapo have very small gizzards compared to other birds of their size. Kakapo feet are large, scaly and, as in all parrots, zygodactyl (two toes face forward and two backward). They have pronounced claws that are particularly useful for climbing.
Kakapo have a well-developed sense of smell which complements their nocturnal lifestyle. Kakapo can also discriminate among odours while foraging; this behavior has only been reported for one other parrot species. One of the most striking characteristics of Kakapo is their pleasant and powerful odor, which has been variously described as like flowers and honey, an air freshener, or the inside of an antique violin case. Given the Kakapo's well-developed sense of smell this scent may be a social chemosignal. The smell has often led predators right to the relatively defenseless Kakapo.
Reproduction
Kakapo are the only parrots in the world that have a lek breeding system. Males loosely gather in an arena and compete with each other to attract females to mate. Females watch the males 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 and males and females meet only to mate.
During the courting season, males leave their usual territories for hilltops and ridges where they each establish their own mating courts. These leks can be up to 7 kilometres (4 mi) from a Kakapo's usual territory and are an average of 50 metres (160 ft) 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.
Each court consists of a series of bowl-like depressions dug in the ground by the male, up to 10 centimetres (4 in) deep and long enough to fit the half-meter length of the bird. Bowls are often created next to rock faces, banks, or tree trunks to help reflect sound. Each male’s bowls are connected by a network of trails or tracks which may extend 50 metres (160 ft) along a ridge or 20 metres (60 ft) in diameter around a hilltop. Males meticulously clear their bowls and tracks of debris. One way researchers check whether bowls are visited at night is to place a few twigs in the bowl, knowing that if the male visits overnight he will pick them up in his beak and toss them away.
To attract females, males make loud, low-frequency booming calls from their bowls by inflating a thoracic sac. They start with low grunts increasing in volume as the sac inflates. After a sequence of about 20 loud booms, the volume drops off. The male Kakapo then stands up for a short while before again lowering his head, inflating his chest and starting another sequence of booms. The booms can be heard for at least one kilometre (0.6 mi) on a still night and wind can carry the sound at least five kilometres (3 mi). Males boom for an average of eight hours a night; each male may produce thousands of booms in this time. This may continue every night for three or four months during which time the male may lose half his body weight. Each male moves around the bowls in his court so that the booms are sent out in different directions.
Females are attracted by the booms of the competing males; they too may need to walk several kilometers from their territories to the arena. There a female enters the court of one of the males. The male then performs a display in which he will rock from side to side and make clicking noises with his beak. He will turn his back to the female, spread his wings in display and walk backwards towards her. When in the presence of a female, males apparently become sexually excited, and may attempt to copulate with objects other than female Kakapo. Little is known about copulation but it is believed to be brief. 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.
Female Kakapo lay between one and four eggs per breeding cycle. They nest on the ground under the cover of plants or in cavities such as hollow tree trunks. They incubate the eggs faithfully, but are forced to leave them every night in search of food. Predators are known to eat the eggs. They may also freeze to death in the mother's absence. Kakapo eggs usually hatch within 30 days, bearing fluffy gray chicks that are quite helpless. 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 fledge and leave the nest at about 10 to 12 weeks of age. As they gain greater independence, their mothers may feed the chicks sporadically for up to 6 months.
Since Kakapo are quite long-lived, they tend to enjoy an adolescence before beginning breeding. Males do not start to boom until about 5 years of age. Females do not seek out males until they are between 9 and 11 years old. Although this is quite a long delay before they start to reproduce, Kakapo are thought to live at least 60 years, leaving plenty of time to perpetuate the species. Kakapo do not breed every year and have 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 forest such as on Codfish Island, Kakapo breeding occurs as infrequently.
Ecology and behavior
The ancestors of the Kakapo migrated to the islands of New Zealand millions of years ago. It is hypothesised that when they arrived, they were smaller and more like other parrots. Over time, they became larger, heavier, and lost the ability to fly. Interestingly, the only mammals native to New Zealand are three species of small bats (one now extinct), and it seems that birds have adapted to fill the niches that mammals occupy in other parts of the world. Before the arrival of humans, Kakapo were wildly successful; it is thought that there were millions alive at any one time.
Kakapo once ranged throughout the three main islands of New Zealand. They lived in a wide variety of habitats including tussocklands, scrublands and coastal areas. They also inhabited a variety of forests including those dominated by podocarps (rimu, matai, kahikatea, totara), beeches, twa, and rata. They particularly favored forest margins and areas of regenerating forest for the wider variety of vegetation in a compact area. In Fiordland, areas of avalanche and slip debris with regenerating and heavily fruiting vegetation such as five finger, wineberry, bush lawyer, tutu, hebes, and coprosmas became known as "Kakapo gardens".
Kakapo are primarily nocturnal, roosting under cover in trees or on the ground during the day and roving their territories at night. Though the Kakapo cannot fly, they are excellent climbers, ascending to the crowns of the tallest trees. They have also been known to "parachute" from heights by spreading their wings, floating gently to the forest floor. Having lost the ability to fly, Kakapo have developed very strong legs. In the course of a night's feeding they may walk several kilometres and climb 300 metres (1000 ft) up hills and down again. Kakapo are able to run at a fair speed, but cannot sustain their speed for long distances.
Kakapo are generally herbivorous, eating a wide variety of native plants, seeds, fruits, pollens and even the sapwood of trees. They are particularly fond of the fruit of the rimu tree, and will feed on it exclusively during seasons when it is abundant. Kakapo have a distinctive habit of grabbing a leaf or frond with a foot and stripping the nutritious parts of the plant out with their beaks, leaving a ball of indigestible fiber, similar to the way humans eat only the tender parts of artichokes. The little clumps of plant fibers are a distinctive sign of the presence of Kakapo. Kakapo have also been observed to occasionally eat insects and other invertebrates.
Kakapo are naturally curious, and though they live solitary lives in remote places, they have been known to enjoy the occasional company of humans. Conservation staff and volunteers have interacted extensively with some birds, and they are known to have distinct, and often charming, personalities.
Like many parrots, Kakapo have a wide range of calls used for various purposes. In addition to the "booms" and "chings" of their mating calls, they are often known to "skraark" to announce their location to other birds.
One behavior that has not recently served the Kakapo well is their reaction to a predator or threat. When Kakapo feel threatened, they simply freeze, hoping to blend in with the vegetation that they so resemble. This was a good strategy to foil their main native predator, the giant Haast's Eagle. However, it does not protect them from their new mammalian predators, which rely on an excellent sense of smell. (Source: Wikipedia.org)
Genus: Scientific: Strigops ... English: Owl Parrots ... Dutch: Uilpapegaaien ... German: Eulenpapageien ... French: Kakapo
Species: Scientific: Strigops habroptilus ... English: Kakapo, Owl Parrot ... Dutch: Kakapo, Uilpapegaai ... German: Eulenpapagei, Kakapo ... French: Kakapo CITES I: Protected Distribution: New Zealand Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots ... The Fabulous Kakapo (Kakapo.net) ... Endangered: Kakapo (In The Wild) ... Takahe
& Kapao - Endangered Species ... Kakapo (Drawing & Article)
If you would like to add to or correct any of the above information, or would like to share with the AvianWeb visitors your own experiences, please e-mail the AvianWeb Webmaster.
Photo contributions and articles are welcome!
