Kākāpō

Kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus)

Kākāpō, Anchor island. Science and Matauranga Māori field trip to Dusky Sound Tamatea, 2016. Photo by Jean-Claude Stahl. Te Papa (155578)

Call

Female kākāpō (Source: Department of Conservation CC BY 4.0)

Territorial kākāpō male (Source: Department of Conservation CC BY 4.0)

Where is home?

They live on the forest floor, nesting in ground burrows and climbing trees for seasonal fruit.

How are they doing?

Threatened – Nationally Critical 

Vulnerable to introduced predators, low breeding success, disease.

What are they known for?

• Kākāpō behave like no other parrot on earth; they are large, flightless, nocturnal, and lek-breeders (males gather in communal arenas to perform elaborate visual and acoustic displays to attract females.) 

• Each kākāpō has its own personality, some cheeky, grumpy, active or greedy. In 1912, scientist Frederick Hutton wrote of kākāpō: “Its intelligence commands respect, and its helplessness sympathy, while its genial nature endears it to all who know it well. It repays kindness with gratitude, and is as affectionate as a dog, and as playful as a kitten.”

• Despite their critically endangered status, there are no kākāpō living in permanent captivity today. In 2026, an astounding 90 chicks survived into adulthood, bringing the count to roughly 325 adult individuals alive, every single bird lives in the wild – on carefully managed, predator-free offshore islands or fenced mainland sanctuaries. Each adult bird has a name, a known ancestry, and wears a radio transmitter backpack to track their location and wellbeing.

Kākāpō connections

• The name ‘kākāpō’ combines kākā and pō as ‘parrot of the night’ in te reo Maori.

• He werewere kōkako. He waowao kākāpō
  An astute person attracts the multitudes

  This whakatauākī was composed by Puke Timoti (Ngāi Tūhoe), and refers to great speakers and knowledge holders who people rally around or ‘flock’ to.