World's heaviest parrot (0.95-4 kg), 58-64 cm in length, with long tail feathers, short legs, large feet & short wings

Skeleton has smallest relative wing size of any parrot; its wing feathers are shorter, more rounded

Feathers are yellowish moss-green mottled with black or dark brownish grey

Although it cannot fly, it is an excellent climber. When on the ground, it moves with a jog-like gait.

It can climb trees & descend from branches by leaping and spreading its wings like a parachute

Kākāpō roost under cover in trees or on the ground during the day & have adapted their senses to moving in darkness

Kākāpō have a well-developed sense of smell & can distinguish between odours while foraging

They have a distinct musty-sweet odour which can alert predators. They freeze when startled to blend into the background

Kākāpō have a variety of calls. As well as the booms, and chings of their mating calls, they will often loudly skraark.

Breeding occurs in summer or autumn but only if trees have plenty of fruit (rimu has fruit every 2-4 years)

Kākāpō are the only flightless bird where males gather & display or 'lek' to attract a female

A male can breed with more than one female each breeding season

The nest is on the ground under plant cover or in a shallow depression in soil or rotten wood

Female kākāpō lays 1–4 eggs, with several days between eggs

The female kākāpō incubates the eggs which usually hatch within 30 days

Chicks are first covered with greyish white down

When the female searches for food, the nest can be left unattended for periods of time

The female feeds the chicks for three months

Chicks become fully feathered at approx 70 days old & leave the nest at approx 10 to 12 weeks of age

Average life expectancy of 60 years, and can live for 90 years

Fossil records show kākāpō originally distributed throughout North Island & South Island in pre-Polynesian times

Kākāpō were hunted by Māori as a food source & for its feathers (for clothing), & sometimes kept as pets

Predators such as cats, dogs, black rats, ferrets, & stoats introduced during British colonisation almost wiped them out

Conservation measures began in 1890s by the Government & Resolution Island in Fiordland became a nature reserve in 1891

Caretaker Richard Henry (appointed 1894) relocated kiwi & over 200 kākāpō from the mainland over next 6 years

By 1900, however, stoats that had swum to Resolution Island wiped out the kākāpō within 6 years

In 1903, three kākāpō were moved from Resolution Island to Little Barrier Island but feral cats were present

By the 1920s, the kākāpō was extinct in the North Island and numbers & locations declining in the South Island

New Zealand Wildlife Service carried out expeditions in Fiordland during 1951 - 1956 with no sightings

1958: one was caught & released in Milford Sound; 1961: 6 caught (1 released & 5 died); 1967: 1 caught & died

In 1977, sightings were reported on Stewart Island. During 1982-1997 the birds were transferred to predator-free islands

The Kākāpō Recovery Programme was started in 1995 by the NZ Conservation Department

Conservation efforts continue today by organisations, businesses & individuals

Since 2015, the Kākāpō 125 project has DNA sequenced the genome of all living kākāpō, as well as some museum specimens

The kākāpō carry radio transmitters to enable close monitoring

Sirocco was hatched in 1997. After his radio transmitter failed, he was not seen for 2 years until reappearing in 2018.

During 2019, kākāpō were threatened by a deadly fungal disease

Youtube video (2019): Surveillance and pest detection work on Whenua Hou (4:40min)

In Sept 2019 it was reported the kākāpō population was 213, which declined to 210 in June 2020