--- title: "Kakapo (Owl Parrot) (Strigops habroptilus) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "The heaviest parrot in the world, camouflaged in moss-green feathers, betrayed by its own strong scent, and courting with a boom heard up to five kilometres away in ideal conditions." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/kakapo-1.webp" published: "2026-08-31" updated: "2026-09-23" --- # Kakapo (Owl Parrot) (*Strigops habroptilus*) > **Status**: Checked against 9 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: The heaviest parrot in the world, camouflaged in moss-green feathers, betrayed by its own strong scent, and courting with a boom heard up to five kilometres away in ideal conditions. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Afrobeats & Modern Amapiano // DJ Lag, "Ice Drop" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/7ia5l12mCvbQTeAnG1oYpg) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ycr4BI8I94) > **Vibe Match**: Gqom strips a track down to booming kick drums on a hypnotic loop, and a male kakapo does the same: he booms every one to two seconds, and his serenade can last eight hours a night. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Strigops habroptilus* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Critically Endangered ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-2.rlts.t22685245a129751169.en)) - **Superpower**: Mottled moss-green camouflage, a freeze-in-place defence, and a booming courtship call heard up to 5 kilometres away in ideal conditions. - **Habitat**: Forested predator-free islands off New Zealand, and a small group of males in a fenced mainland sanctuary - **Diet**: Plants only, including rimu fruit, leaves, buds, flowers, fern fronds, roots, bulbs and seeds - **Tags**: herbivore, camouflage, vocalist, nocturnal, island-endemic ## Natural History & Behavior ## The Parrot That Lost Its Flight The kakapo (*Strigops habroptilus*) is the heaviest parrot in the world, with the smallest wings relative to its size of any parrot. It is 58 to 64 centimetres long; males weigh 2 to 4 kilograms and females 1 to 2.5. Its breastbone has only a vestigial keel, and its main breast muscles are greatly reduced. It walks and climbs: lighter females can glide across gaps of 3 to 4 metres, strong claws take it up 20-metre rimu trees, and it can walk several kilometres at a time. It eats only plants and can live for more than 50 years; the maximum is unknown. ## Built for the Dark A kakapo's eyes probably work well in dim light but see poorly in detail. Its eye sockets face further forward than other parrots', suggesting more overlap between its two eyes' views. Its eye shape fits nocturnal birds such as owls and nightjars but also falls within the range of daytime parrots, and some of its brain's sight regions are relatively smaller than other parrots'. Its sense of smell is believed to be well developed. Measured against its brain's length, its smell-processing olfactory bulb is larger than in most non-passerine birds, parrots included, and comparable to a brown kiwi's or a turkey vulture's, two birds with a keen sense of smell. Whisker-like feathers near its eyes and beak, called rictal bristles, may help it avoid injury in the dark, much like a cat's whiskers, and the lower ones touch the ground as it walks. > **A Boom From an Inflated Chest** During booming, a male kakapo inflates the air sac in his chest and gives a deep call below 100 hertz. It can be heard hundreds of metres away, and in ideal conditions up to 5 kilometres. ## Breeding in Good Fruit Years Kakapo are the only parrot species known to breed at a lek, where males display at fixed spots to attract females. In breeding years, each male forms a shallow bowl in the earth on a ridge, rock or hilltop and calls there for up to eight hours a night, every night for two or three months. Females can travel long distances to mate with the male or males they prefer, then raise the chicks alone. On islands in southern New Zealand they breed when the rimu trees fruit, once every two to four years. Researchers found that 61% of kakapo eggs fail to hatch, and 73% of those show no sign of development. Undeveloped eggs were once blamed on male infertility, but 72% of the ones tested had been fertilised, so early embryo death, not infertility, drives the low hatching rate. ## A Smell That Gave Them Away Kakapo evolved without mammals. Freezing and relying on camouflage worked when the main predators were birds that hunted by sight, such as the now-extinct Haast's eagle. It is completely ineffective against mammals that hunt by smell, like introduced cats and stoats, and a kakapo has a strong body odour. Before humans arrived, kakapo were common throughout New Zealand's forests, until introduced predators brought them down to 51 birds in 1995. Moving the whole population to predator-free islands and managing every stage of life has brought a steady increase: there were 248 kakapo in July 2023, when four males moved to a fenced mainland sanctuary, the first on the mainland in nearly four decades. It is still Critically Endangered. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why can't a kakapo fly? The kakapo is the most massive parrot in the world and has the smallest wings for its size of any parrot. Its breastbone has only a vestigial keel, its main breast muscles are greatly reduced, and for its weight the muscles of its forearm and hand are smaller than those of the kea, a close relative that flies. *(Source: [Livezey 1992]())* ### Is the kakapo really the only parrot that mates at a lek? As far as anyone has found, yes. In breeding years, male kakapo take to prominent ridges, rocks or hilltops, form a network of tracks and shallow bowls, and call for up to eight hours a night, every night for two or three months, while females travel to the male or males they prefer. No other parrot species in the world is known to breed this way. Males play no part afterward; the females raise their chicks alone. *(Source: [New Zealand Department of Conservation]())* ### Why is a kakapo's own scent so dangerous to it? Kakapo evolved without mammals. When disturbed they freeze and rely on their mottled feathers for camouflage, an excellent defence against predators that hunt by sight, such as the now-extinct Haast's eagle. But introduced cats and stoats hunt by smell and are active day and night, which makes them such a threat to a flightless parrot with a distinctive smell. *(Source: [New Zealand Department of Conservation]())* ### Why do so many kakapo eggs fail to hatch? Mostly because embryos die early. Researchers found that 61% of kakapo eggs fail to hatch, and 73% of those show no sign of development. Undeveloped eggs were once blamed on male infertility, but 72% of the ones tested had been fertilised, so early embryo death, not infertility, drives the low hatching rate. *(Source: [Savage et al. 2021]())* ## Sources 1. [Kākāpō | Kakapo. New Zealand Birds Online.]() 2. [Kākāpō behaviour. New Zealand Department of Conservation.]() 3. [Kākāpō return to mainland in historic translocation. New Zealand Department of Conservation, 2023.]() 4. [Kākāpō habitat and islands. New Zealand Department of Conservation.]() 5. [Powlesland, Merton & Cockrem (2006). A parrot apart: the natural history of the kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), and the context of its conservation management. Notornis.]() 6. [Corfield et al. (2011). Anatomical Specializations for Nocturnality in a Critically Endangered Parrot, the Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus). PLoS ONE.]() 7. [Livezey (1992). Morphological corollaries and ecological implications of flightlessness in the kakapo (Psittaciformes: Strigops habroptilus). Journal of Morphology.]() 8. [Savage et al. (2021). Low hatching success in the critically endangered kākāpō is driven by early embryo mortality not infertility. Animal Conservation.]() 9. [Strigops habroptila. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22685245A129751169.]() *Published August 31, 2026. 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