Kākāpō

Today, we get to meet the world's only nocturnal parrot. This bird is also known for being mostly ground-dwelling and flightless--because it's a fat bird, mostly. It's also got a bit of fame because it is rather rare and was thought extinct for almost a hundred years. 

Before we get too far in, I do need to point out that this bird is found in Australia. And New Zealand. Since it's in Australia though, I'm going to assume it wants to kill me somehow. I haven't figured out how yet, but that doesn't mean it doesn't. It's mostly New Zealand though, so maybe it's safe? They called it gentle and sweet, so maybe just the Australian cousins want to kill us? I don't know. I'll just be a bit wary of them if I ever meet them. 

Other things that are interesting about these birds is that they are perhaps among the longest living species of bird, possibly living up to about 90 years, and they are the only parrot known to do a thing called 'Lek Breeding' where the males gather up to show off for the females, mate, then have nothing to do with the babies. 

This picture is from the Department of Conservation link below. It also has a lot of information and some of the Kakapo's calls, if you want to listen. 

Evolution lost these birds their ability to fly because there weren't any mammalian predators around to scare them into the sky, but they've adapted well. Despite being rather heavy, the lighter females can glide for a few meters, and they've learned to walk long distances easily. They also climb things sometimes, getting higher up and using their wings to do a controlled fall back down when they find what they want. 

This is from PBS below. 

Because of their nocturnal nature and lack of predators, these bird's populations were heavily depleted by cats and similar carnivorous pets that were brought to the land. They were thought extinct from the 1920's to about 1980, when they were found by a bird-watcher again and they had picture proof. Since then, they've been working to study them and help their numbers grow again, which has been pretty successful. 

This is from the New Zealand Bird link below. They've got a lot of good information also. 

This picture is from the PBS link below. 

These birds are seriously unique, being the only nocturnal, flightless, and lek-breeding parrot, among other things, and it's hopeful that they won't disappear entirely. They don't have any close relatives, and losing them would be a tragedy. 

I hope you found them as interesting as I did, and I'll see you soon with another interesting thing to tell you about. 

Sources:

Bush Heritage, Australia--Night Parrot

Youtube-- A BBC show snippet about this (Warning, part of this is a bird attempting to shag the photographer's head. Don't watch where you can't laugh.)

Department of Conservation, New Zealand-- Kakapo

Department of Conservation, New Zealand,-- Kakapo Behavior

Animal Diversity Web-- Kakapo

New Zealand Birds Online-- Kakapo

Natural History Museum-- Kakapo

PBS-- Featured Creature-- Kakapo

(This picture is from PBS above)

In case you want to help, this is a page for Kakapo Recovery.