Kākāpō — Maori for night time parrot — are absolute oddballs, distinctive in nearly each facet of their biology and habits. They’re the world’s solely flightless parrot: As an alternative of hovering by way of the air, they use their sturdy toes and beaks to clamber throughout the forest flooring and climb up timber. They’re additionally the world’s chonkiest parrot; males weigh almost 5 kilos. And the superlatives don’t cease there. Kākāpō are one of many longest-lived parrots, too, with some birds estimated to achieve 90 years of age.
The species was as soon as discovered all through New Zealand, earlier than being almost worn out by feral predators. The entire world’s surviving kākāpō — fewer than 250 birds — now dwell on predator-free offshore islands. Other than predators, the kakapo’s foremost drawback is that they aren’t precisely prodigious breeders. Birds don’t attain sexual maturity till they’re close to 5 years outdated, and so they solely reproduce when a particular species of tree, the rimu, fruits en-mass each two to 4 years. Their odd courtship habits doesn’t assist, both.
To display their reproductive health, male kākāpō toddle up a mountain, dig a gap within the filth, after which “increase” into it for as much as 8 hours straight, every night time, for as much as three months. These low-frequency calls can journey as much as 5 kilometers. Upon listening to this attractive serenade, feminine kākāpō need to clamber by way of the forest (once more, they’ll’t fly) and up the mountain to seek out the males. This show habits, referred to as lekking, is widespread within the hen world, however kakapo are the one lek-breeding parrot. Ridiculous at the perfect of instances, this mating technique is very ineffective when there are solely about 100 birds left. So the Kākāpō Restoration crew began a captive breeding program to assist bolster genetic variety and preserve the species.
Maybe my favourite kakapo anecdote: One wild (however hand-raised) kākāpō, Sirocco, developed an unlucky behavior of trying to mate with folks’s heads. (Don’t consider me? Watch filmmaker Mark Carwardine get “shagged by a uncommon parrot” as actor Stephen Fry appears on.) Making an attempt to make the perfect of a clumsy scenario, scientists improvised a particular helmet that will acquire Sirocco’s semen. Sadly, Sirocco prefers seducing helmet-free heads, and he now receives particular behavioral coaching to show him to redirect his urges towards a stuffed owl puppet.
Kākāpō — Maori for night time parrot — are absolute oddballs, distinctive in nearly each facet of their biology and habits. They’re the world’s solely flightless parrot: As an alternative of hovering by way of the air, they use their sturdy toes and beaks to clamber throughout the forest flooring and climb up timber. They’re additionally the world’s chonkiest parrot; males weigh almost 5 kilos. And the superlatives don’t cease there. Kākāpō are one of many longest-lived parrots, too, with some birds estimated to achieve 90 years of age.
The species was as soon as discovered all through New Zealand, earlier than being almost worn out by feral predators. The entire world’s surviving kākāpō — fewer than 250 birds — now dwell on predator-free offshore islands. Other than predators, the kakapo’s foremost drawback is that they aren’t precisely prodigious breeders. Birds don’t attain sexual maturity till they’re close to 5 years outdated, and so they solely reproduce when a particular species of tree, the rimu, fruits en-mass each two to 4 years. Their odd courtship habits doesn’t assist, both.
To display their reproductive health, male kākāpō toddle up a mountain, dig a gap within the filth, after which “increase” into it for as much as 8 hours straight, every night time, for as much as three months. These low-frequency calls can journey as much as 5 kilometers. Upon listening to this attractive serenade, feminine kākāpō need to clamber by way of the forest (once more, they’ll’t fly) and up the mountain to seek out the males. This show habits, referred to as lekking, is widespread within the hen world, however kakapo are the one lek-breeding parrot. Ridiculous at the perfect of instances, this mating technique is very ineffective when there are solely about 100 birds left. So the Kākāpō Restoration crew began a captive breeding program to assist bolster genetic variety and preserve the species.
Maybe my favourite kakapo anecdote: One wild (however hand-raised) kākāpō, Sirocco, developed an unlucky behavior of trying to mate with folks’s heads. (Don’t consider me? Watch filmmaker Mark Carwardine get “shagged by a uncommon parrot” as actor Stephen Fry appears on.) Making an attempt to make the perfect of a clumsy scenario, scientists improvised a particular helmet that will acquire Sirocco’s semen. Sadly, Sirocco prefers seducing helmet-free heads, and he now receives particular behavioral coaching to show him to redirect his urges towards a stuffed owl puppet.
