New Zealand’s Flightless Parrot Makes Remarkable Comeback from Brink of Extinction

The world’s only flightless parrot species, once thought to be doomed by evolution, is making a remarkable comeback after an intensive conservation effort that has more than quadrupled its population over three decades.

The kakapo, New Zealand’s nocturnal and reclusive native bird, has defied what many conservationists once considered inevitable extinction. From a population of just 50 birds, their numbers have grown to more than 200 today, with hopes for even more growth during this year’s breeding season.

“We don’t have the Eiffel Tower or the pyramids, but we do have kakapo and kiwi,” said Deidre Vercoe, operations manager for the Department of Conservation’s kakapo program. “It’s a real New Zealand duty to save these birds.”

The odd-looking parrot, which can weigh over 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) and live up to 80 years, seems almost designed for failure in the modern world. Too heavy to fly, too slow to escape, and reportedly delicious to predators, the kakapo also takes a remarkably leisurely approach to reproduction.

Adding to its vulnerability is a distinctive musky, fruity aroma that makes the birds easy for predators to locate. This scent, combined with their flightlessness, made them particularly vulnerable when humans arrived in New Zealand hundreds of years ago, bringing rats, dogs, cats and stoats that decimated the native bird population.

By 1974, kakapo were believed extinct until a new population was discovered in the late 1970s, sparking the beginning of what would become one of the world’s most intensive species recovery efforts.

The kakapo now live on three tiny, remote predator-free islands off New Zealand’s southern coast. This breeding season has brought new public attention to the species through a livestream of a nest belonging to 23-year-old Rakiura on Whenua Hou island, where viewers witnessed the hatching of a chick on Tuesday.

The breeding process itself reflects the peculiar nature of these birds. Kakapo only breed every two to four years, triggered by bumper crops of fruit from native rimu trees. This irregular cycle, which last occurred in 2022, is essential for providing enough food for chicks to survive.

“They’re probably up there in the canopy assessing the fruiting,” Vercoe explained. “When there’s a large crop developing, they somehow tune into that.”

When breeding does occur, male kakapo create bowl-shaped depressions in the ground and emit distinctive booming calls that can be heard across the forest on clear nights, followed by sounds described as “chings” that resemble rusty bedsprings. These sounds attract females to the bowls, where mating occurs. Females can lay up to four eggs and raise the chicks without male assistance.

The conservation effort has required extraordinary measures. Each bird is named, fitted with a tracking device, and has its genetic makeup carefully considered for breeding. Eggs are often removed for artificial incubation to maximize survival chances, as was the case with Rakiura’s clutch this season.

The work to preserve this unusual species might seem extreme, but it reflects New Zealand’s special relationship with its native birds. In a country where birds evolved without mammalian predators – the only native land mammals are two bat species – avian species became particularly distinctive and now serve as important national symbols.

This year’s breeding season, fueled by an abundant crop of the birds’ favorite berries, has conservationists hopeful for a record number of chicks. Each successful hatching represents another step away from extinction for this improbable survivor.

While the kakapo remains critically endangered, requiring ongoing conservation efforts, the progress made offers hope that these strange, charismatic parrots might continue to defy the evolutionary odds stacked against them.