Endangered flightless parrots are breeding in New Zealand for the first time in four years, authorities announced on January 6.
The kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) is a large, flightless, nocturnal parrot with mottled green and yellow plumage that breeds only every two to four years. Their breeding season is triggered by the mass fruiting of the Rimu tree (Dacrydium cupressinum), a native conifer that lives for more than 600 years.
“It’s always exciting when the breeding season officially begins, but this year it’s especially exciting after such a long gap since last season in 2022,” Deirdre Varcoe, operations manager for kakapo recovery at the New Zealand Department of Conservation, said in a statement.
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Human expansion across New Zealand pushed the bird to the brink of extinction by the mid-1900s. Intensive management has increased the kakapo population from just 51 over the past 30 years, but there are now only 236 kakapo left in the wild, including 83 breeding females. They all wear backpack radio transmitters to monitor their location and activities. Most female kakapo raise one chick each breeding season.
The 2026 breeding season could have the highest number of chicks since records began 30 years ago, the statement said. However, the Kakapo recovery program focuses on enabling the birds to fend for themselves, not just the number of chicks they produce.
“The kakapo remains endangered and we will continue to work to increase their numbers, but as we look to the future, the number of chicks is not the only measure of success,” Mr Varcoe said. “We want to create a healthy, self-sustaining kakapo population that not only survives, but thrives. This means that with each successful breeding season, we aim to reduce the level of intensive, hands-on management and return them to a more natural state.”
Over the past few years, some kakapo have been raised by humans, causing them to leave their mark on humans rather than other members of their species. One of the birds, named Sirocco, made headlines in 2009 after it attempted to mate with a zoologist who was filming a documentary about the birds. This prompted Creative Rangers and others to develop a latex “kakapo ejaculation helmet,” Stuff reported in 2018.
This season, the team plans to leave more eggs to hatch in kakapo nests rather than in incubators and limit interaction with nests with multiple chicks to reduce interference.
During the breeding season, male kakapo gather together and build a network of trails and hollows that amplify their loud mating calls. Every night for weeks or months, their calls attract females to this communal area called the lek. After mating, the female kakapo incubates the eggs and raises the chicks on her own.
Officials expect the season’s first chicks to hatch around mid-February.
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