Author: Ann Mansker "itannman@ucdavis.edu"
Subject: Critter of the Week: Strigops habroptilus
Newsgroups: ucd.life
Date: 1998/10/13


The kakapo is a rare parrot native to New Zealand forests, unique in many
ways.  It is nocturnal, flightless, extremely large (about 8 lbs), and
solitary for most of the year.  Most birds depend on the grinding action of
the crop to crush food, but the kakapo's crop is very underdeveloped.
Kakapos are entirely herbivorous.  They eat a variety of fruits, seeds,
leaves and roots.  They masticate their food between the lower mandible and
a pad in the upper mandible.  This is as close to chewing as any bird ever
gets.

The kakapo is also unparrotlike in its breeding behavior.  The males gather
at group display areas (called leks), where they attempt to attract mates
with a strange booming call.  Lek breeding is not especially rare; various
species of grouse, bustards and birds of paradise are among the numerous
families that gather at leks, but the kakapo is the only parrot to do so.
It is also the only ground-nesting parrot.

Kakapos were once widespread throughout New Zealand.  They evolved in an
essentially predator-free environment.  Their population began declining
with the arrival of the Polynesians, who brought with them dogs and rats.
The rate increased when Europeans introduced cats, ferrets, more (and
different) rats and deforestation.  The population collapsed in the 1930s;
there are no longer any kakapos at all on the New Zealand mainland.  The
remnant population of 54 birds has been relocated to three islands off the
coast to protect them from as many land-based predators as possible.

Recovery, if it is possible at all, will be extremely slow.  Kakapos breed
only every few years when an unusually heavy fruiting (mast) of some food
trees provides enough protein-rich seed to feed chicks.  Though supplemental
feeding is being provided, no one knows if this will be effective in 
increasing kakapo fertility.

There is a good image of this mossy-looking parrot at
http://www.gen.com/bigjude/Page8.html , with a Real Audio background of the
kakapo's mating call.