Kākāpō

Template:Regnum:	Animalia
Template:Phylum:	Chordata
Template:Classis:	Aves
Template:Ordo:	Psittaciformes
Template:Familia:	Psittacidae
Template:Genus:	Strigops
[[{{{1}}}{{{2}}} {{{3}}}\|{{{1}}}. {{{3}}}]]:	habroptilus

Binomial name

Strigops habroptilus

The Kakapo, or Whakapapa (Strigops habroptilus), is a remarkable bird native to the islands of New Zealand. While the Kakapo once had a wide range on the main islands, now only a few small islands support the entire population: Maud Island, Fiordland, Whenua Hou, and Hauturu. Prehistorically, Kakapo migrated to the islands of New Zealand and, finding no mammalian predators, it lost the ability to fly. With European and Polynesian colonization, however, and the introduction of predators like cats and rats, almost all Kakapo died. In 1995, only 50 known Kakapo survived. Today, there are 86 registered Kakapo, each having been given a name by Kakapo Conservation staff. It is the only species in the genus Strigops and subfamily Strigopinae.

The Kakapo has many characteristcs that separate it from other species of parrot. It weighs the most of all parrots, up to 4 kg. Kakapo are the only parrots in the world that have a lek breeding system. When a male wants to attract a female, he gathers air into a thoracic sac and produces a very deep "boom." This sound can be heard for up to 10 miles (16 km), as it sounds at such a low frequency. Each male may produce thousands of these noises per night, especially if he is competing with another suitor. These sounds lure female kakapo to the breeding "bowls," depressions dug into the ground, which the male creates. Once a male has mated, he leaves the female to do the real work of laying the eggs and raising the chicks. He continues booming until he finds another female.

Recently, concerned humans have intervened heavily in the breeding of the Kakapo in hopes to preserve the species and maximize their genetic diversity. Birds are moved between islands both to keep them safe and to encourage them to mate with several different individuals over the course of their lives. Females are given nutritional supplementation at personal "feeding stations" in the hope that they will be able to produce young every year, as opposed to the more usual interval of two or three years. Sometimes, chicks are removed from their mothers to encourage the laying of a second brood. Older females can function as "surrogate mothers" and have successfully raised chicks to adulthood. One bird is particularly important to the genetic diversity of the species. Richard Henry is the only known Kakapo from the mainland population, the others being descended from protected populations originating on the small islands. Interestingly, he has a more yellow coloration than the other Kakapo and seems to boom in a different "dialect" than the others. Fortunately, he seems to be popular with the female birds.

Kakapo, especially chicks, are vulnerable to predation by introduced species, especially cats and stoats. Not only are the birds flightless, but they exude a powerful, though not unpleasant, scent. Therefore, all of the known Kakapo have been moved to small islands offshore of the mainland. These islands are largely, but not completely, predator-free, though stoats have been known to swim more than a kilometer and re-colonize the islands.