KiwiNewZ

The Kakapo - the booming parrot

The Department of Conservation has a major campaign underway fighting for the survival of this cuter than all flightless green native parrot. Now these dudes are pretty special .... one of the world's most critically endangered birds in fact with only 62 alive and 15 breeding females.

The Kakapo exists only on the predator free islands Little Barrier and Codfish Island. They are the largest parrot in the world with males up to 3kg. They are silent except during breeding when the male "booms" to attract

Their preferred diet is a range of foliage, seeds and shoots and they nest in a shallow burrow, beneath tree roots or in a hollow log. They lay 2 - 4 eggs and the female is entirely responsible for incubation and feeding

This year the Kakapo were moved from their island sanctuary of Codfish Island to the far south of Stewart Island - Port Pegasus for those of you with a map - to allow a rat poisoning campaign to be undertaken ( one Kakapo got missed but that's a different story ). They have just been moved back to Codfish Island ( doing a lot of flying around for a flightless bird! ) after a brilliant breeding season. Four healthy chicks and seven fertile eggs with total numbers of Kakapo now reaching 60 for the first time in 60 years. Go the Kakapo.

Further to our Kakapo success story in our last NewsZine it has been confirmed that four of the seven Kakapo chicks born this year are females. The Department of Conservation and Forest and Bird have fostered a program to boost the population of one of the world's most endangered birds and this is great news for those close to the action, and the Kakapo!

Real exciting was finding Lisa alive and well. She hadn't been seen since 1984 and long given up as dead. Not only alive but she had three female chicks in tow. The wonder of nature is so often refreshing .... and surprising.