Animals Camp

The Kakapo, scientifically known as Strigops habroptila, is a large, rotund parrot. Also known as the owl parrot, there are some specific set of characters which makes it unique among its relatives. As of now it is world’s only known flightless parrot. The name kakapo was given to this bird by the Maoris and the other name owl parrot was given by Europeans. There was once a dense population of these parrots in the beech forests of New Zealand and nearby grasslands. Being flightless, it attracts many of the predators (mainly the stoat) around its habitat and much of them were destroyed with the arrival of Europeans in the starting of 18th century.

The Kakapo is the heaviest parrot among all. Other characteristics are such as it is nocturnal, herbivorous, shows sexual dimorphism. The male parrot stands up to 60 cm or 24 inch. Once maturity is attained the weight varies in between 2-4 kilograms. Another character unique to this species is its polygynous hurdle type of breeding. Its eyes are dark brown in color. Feet are large and scaly. Like all the parrots it also have feet whose two toes face forward and two backward, for better grip. The feather color matches with its surroundings; yellowish-green mottled with brown color. The wings are only used for balancing purpose.

According to the scientists, it is possibly the world’s longest-living bird. With respect to its requirements, the wings became smaller in size and lacking sternum that gives strength to the flight muscles of the birds. The heavier weight of this bird is due to the excessive deposition of fat to store energy in the body. Today only 52 to 54 kakapos can be sighted. Now the surviving Kakapos are kept under close observance; and are allocated two predator-free islands, Codfish and Anchor islands.