The kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) is one of the rarest parrots in the world and possibly one of the longest-lived birds. Its common name is a transliteration from the Maori meaning parrot at night. Its generic name derives from Greek and means owl face, the specific name means soft feather. The truth is that it is unmistakable for its large size, its owl face, and its soft green plumage speckled with yellow, brown, and gray, which blends in with the vegetation and the forest floor.
It is a very large parrot, with a pronounced sexual dimorphism males weigh 30-40% more than females. It cannot fly as its wings are short and it lacks a keel, the extension of the sternum where the flight muscles anchor. They are skilled climbers and it is not uncommon to see them in the treetops, at 20 or 30 meters, where they use the peak to grab, and the wings to support and balance when jumping. In addition to its anatomy, it differs from other parrots in its reproductive behavior. It is the only flightless bird that mates in a lek system. The males are concentrated in a place called an arena, where they exhibit and compete with each other to attract females, emitting a curious sound that can be heard for several kilometers. The females approach these sands, choose the males they consider to be of the highest quality, and mate with them, disappearing after copulation.
Kakapos are herbivores and their diet includes a great variety of plants, selecting very diverse parts of the leaves, shoots, flowers, barks, roots, bulbs, fruits, and seeds. Being a nutrient-poor diet, they only reproduce coinciding with the massive fruiting of certain trees, which only occurs between two and five years. Its sense of smell is highly developed, which is consistent with its nocturnal lifestyle, helping it to locate food. Before the arrival of man, New Zealand’s terrestrial habitats were dominated by birds, reptiles, and invertebrates. Birds constituted the megafauna and exploited the niches that mammals occupied elsewhere. In this environment, the only predators of the kakapos were raptors. Although it could not fly, the nocturnal habits of this parrot and its cryptic plumage made it difficult for birds of prey to detect, which relied on sight to capture their prey.
The absence of mammals, whether they were predators or competitors, made it possible for the kakapo to evolve differently from other parrots. Their anatomy illustrates the evolutionary trend of birds on oceanic islands with few predators and abundant food, consisting of a robust physique and increased thermodynamic efficiency at the expense of flight abilities.
The kakapo was abundant before humans arrived, about 800 years ago; the fossil record indicates that it was the third most common bird in New Zealand. It was an important resource for indigenous peoples and appears in many of their legends and folklore. The Maori hunted it, both for its meat, as a source of food, and for its feathers, which they used to make clothing; some even kept it as a pet. The arrival of Europeans in the 19th century constitutes a turning point in the situation of the species. Starting in 1840, the settlers deforested vast areas of land to dedicate it to agriculture and grazing, thus destroying their natural habitat. Also, the mammals they introduced to the islands turned the previously successful kakapos into vulnerable beings: eggs and chickens hardly survived rats and stoats, and adults became easy prey for cats, mustelids, and dogs.
At the end of the 19th century, it aroused the scientific curiosity of naturalists and thousands of specimens were captured for zoos, museums, and private collectors. The specimen that can be seen in the MNCN comes from that time, although the precise date of its collection is unknown. In 1913 the curator of the Luis Lozano y Rey Museum revised I underneath the pedestal, it keeps a historical label.
Currently, the kakapo is one of the most researched animals on the planet. Today 153 survive, and each of them carries a radio transmitter, which allows scientists to have them permanently controlled. An ambitious project undertaken by the New Zealand government has relocated the survivors to three predator-free islands. Due to its low genetic diversity and low fertility, much of the conservation plan focuses on mating management and the use of artificial insemination to minimize the loss of genetic variability. Also, a large-scale ecological restoration project is underway to restore suitable habitat for the future kakapo population. In 2009, a kakapo named Sirocco was made famous by a BBC video showing him climbing on the head of a photographer and attempting to copulate with him. The video was viewed by millions of people around the world and made him a spokesperson for New Zealand wildlife conservation.
