Kākāpō

Strigops habroptilus

mythic
8 km/h
Critically Endangered

Flightless, nocturnal parrot that booms like a subwoofer. About 235 adults left, and 2026 was a record breeding year.

Population: ~235 individuals, all radio-tagged, individually tracked and named (per NZ Dept. of Conservation, 2026); up from a low of ~50 in the 1990s
Habitat: Historically temperate rainforest, scrubland, and tussock grassland; today confined to a handful of intensively managed predator-free offshore islands (and one fenced mainland sanctuary) with dense native forest and high rainfall, up to ~700 m elevation
Fun fact: The kākāpō is the world's only flightless parrot and its heaviest parrot species, and during the breeding season males inflate a thoracic air sac and produce a resonant, low-frequency "booming" call from bowl-shaped depressions (track-and-bowl systems) that can carry several kilometers to attract females.
Range: Endemic to New Zealand. Formerly widespread across North, South, and Stewart Islands but functionally extinct in its natural range; the population now lives on intensively managed predator-free islands — Whenua Hou (Codfish Island), Anchor Island, Maud Island, and Hauturu (Little Barrier Island, reintroduced 2012) are documented current sites — plus a 2023 reintroduction of four males to the fenced Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari on the mainland, New Zealand's first mainland kākāpō population in decades (partially unsuccessful; some escapees were relocated back to island sites). Birds were also historically held on Pearl and Chalky Islands before consolidation into Anchor Island in 2005; the exact live island roster shifts over time as the Kākāpō Recovery Programme continues translocations.
Diet: Entirely herbivorous — seeds, fruits, leaves, buds, flowers, fern fronds, bark, roots, rhizomes, bulbs, and shoots of native plants, with rimu fruit an especially important, breeding-triggering food source in mast years
Size: 0.61 m
Wingspan: 0.82 m
Lifespan: 90 years

Kākāpō

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