Kakapo Facts
Kakapo Facts
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| Interesting Kakapo Facts: |
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| Kakapo can reach 23 to 25 inches in height and 2 to 9 pounds of weight. |
| Kakapo has green body, mottled with yellow and brown feathers. It has big brown eyes, large brown beak and yellowish-brown facial disk, like an owl, hence the nickname "owl parrot". |
| Kakapo is the only species of parrot that cannot fly. It has soft feathers and short wings that can be used only for balancing and for landing on the ground. |
| Kakapo is ground-dwelling bird, but it can easily climb on the trees using its strong legs equipped with sharp claws. Two toes are oriented forward and two backward, to ensure strong grip and stability on the branches. When it lands on the ground, kakapo moves in a jog-like manner. |
| Kakapo is active during the night. It roosts in the trees or on the ground during the day. |
| Kakapo likes to eat fruits, seeds, leaves, root, nectar and fungi. |
| Kakapo has excellent sense of smell. It is one of the rare species of birds that can be recognized by musty-sweet odor. |
| Natural enemies of kakapos are eagles. |
| Kakapo freezes to become "invisible" for the predators when it detects danger (its body easily blends with the surroundings). This strategy is only useful for the natural enemies of kakapo. Introduced predators such as cats, rats and stoats rely on the sense of smell to find food and they easily locate "invisible" kakapo. |
| Kakapo is friendly bird that is not afraid of people. Even wild birds do not hesitate to approach and climb on the people. |
| Mating season of kakapos takes place from December to April. |
| Males travel up to 4 miles to reach display grounds. They dig bowl-shaped depressions in the ground and emit loud low-frequency booming calls and high-pitched metallic calls to attract females. |
| Females lay 1 to 2 eggs that hatch after 30 days. Males do not show parental care. Young kakapos are ready to leave the nest at the age of 10 to 12 weeks, but they depend on their mothers (which provide food) at least few more months. |
| Males start to reproduce at the age of 4 years, females two years later. Kakapos reproduce every 2 to 5 years, when food is plentiful. |
| Kakapo can survive more than 90 years in the wild. |
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