Kakapo – Animal of the Week

Since much of what I’ll do here at Ocellated is discuss science and faith, and hopefully engage others on these topics, I wanted to have something that everyday “non-science” types of people can enjoy, something that people can look forward to, something that’s uplifting.

Animal of the week will be a weekly topic in which I pick one animal and give you, my treasured readers, an intimate look at something you might have no idea existed. Now my criteria for “animal” will be somewhat flexible. It will be either extant (currently living) or extinct. It might be a group of animals, or it might even be a plant (doubtful, but I’m not ruling it out).

Now, I figured that Mondays can often be depressing days being the start of the week and all, so my plan is to try and publish animal of the week articles on that day to bring just a little bit of cheer. I might occasionally miss this deadline. It will certainly have to depend on how much time I can spring for writing. But my desire to do this is to share my knowledge of the world we live in. We all have gifts. Mine would certainly seem to be a passion and better than average knowledge of the natural world. I hope you’ll enjoy.

So without further ado, meet the Kakapo, Strigops habroptilus.

To understand why I chose this animal for my first animal of the week, all I need to do is give you a brief list of it’s qualities. It’s an 8 pound nocturnal flightless parrot. In fact the name comes from the Maori word meaning night parrot.

Distribution

Kakapos (pronounced kaa-kaa-poe) formerly occured throughout New Zealand and its nearby islands but are now critically endangered (less than 100 are alive today) and are limited to two islands near New Zealand: Chalky Island and Codfish Island. Interestingly, the area of Austrialia and New Zealand has the greatest diversity of parrot species in the world.

Breeding

Male Kakapos have a very special way of getting the ladies. They build and maintain a track and bowl system. The males hollow out a small depression in the ground (the bowl), and then forge paths up to 50m in length (the track) to the next bowl. They meticulously clear the vegetation in this system and keep the area free of debris. At night the males give a deep resonating booming — up to 20 rapid notes in succession that can be heard up to half a mile away on a still night and up to 3 miles if the wind carries it right. This noise has been described by some as sounding like a giant heartbeat in the middle of the night, and must have been one of the world’s great natural wonders back when hundreds or thousands of these things were sounding off at the same time. Males will “sing” like this all night, moving along their tracks to different bowls so that they can send the sound out in different directions. This period of courtship lasts for three to four months, and the male may lose up to half his body weight because of the energy spent.

Females will walk up to several miles to find to a male. In fact one female was reported to have walked as far as 20 miles to find a male (and then walked all the way back). When she arrives at his bowl, he’ll do a dance and make a series of clicking noises with his bill. It’s also been reported that males become sexually excited in the presence of a female (no, I’m not making this up) and may attempt to copulate with other objects nearby. (I’d hate to be that rock.) One of the things that makes breeding extremely difficult for this species is that in order to fertilize eggs, females require high amounts of fruit from certain plants which only flower every few years. Accordingly, the birds have one of the lowest reproduction rates for any bird. (One of the things making recovery of this species extremely difficult).

Other facts of interest

• Kakapos have a very long lifespan, estimated to be up to 60 years. Accordingly, they do not reach sexual maturity for a while. Males come of age around 5 years old while females can breed around the age of 10.
• They have a rather powerful smell, which is said to be quite good and described as flowers, honey, or an air freshener scent.
• Their natural defense when threatened by a predator is to freeze, thereby blending into the surrounding vegetation and escaping detection. This worked quite well for its only native predator, a type of eagle. With the newly introduced predators however, it usually means certain death for the Kakapo, as its smell makes it easy to find.
• Their diet consists of mostly plants, including seeds, fruits, pollens, and the newly formed outer layer (sapwood) of some trees.
• Kakapos cannot fly, but their feet are powerful, and thus they are excellent climbers. Their wings can also break their falls as they flutter out of trees to the forest floor.

Reasons for decline

Like many island ecosystems, the Kakapo’s former range suffered form the introduction of non-native predators, especially rats, cats, and stoats (weasels). These predators killed chicks, ate the eggs, and even preyed upon adult birds themselves. The stoats were brought in to try and control rabbits (which weren’t native). Deer (also not native) have also caused the decline and extinction of some of the food sources that Kakapos perfer. Introduced species, those that have not naturally existed in an area, often bring devastation when they come into contact with native wildlife. This problem is particularly bad on island ecosytems, because islands often have unique species that evolved in the absence of predators. Thus they cannot adapt to the sudden onslaught. The decline of the Kakapo was also greatly exacerbated by man in the late 1800s, as the birds were overcollected for museum specimens and even food. From the early to mid 1900s, Kakapo sightings became very rare and hope for saving this bird looked quite bleak.

Recovery Efforts

The story of recovery is a nuanced one. Numerous expeditions were conducted to see if the birds even still existed. Officials tried bringing some of the birds into captivity to save the species, but scientists lacked proper information on their ecology and diet and they died. Though a few males were found during the early 70’s, it wasn’t until 1977 that a small but healthy previously unknown population was discovered on Stewart Island containing females! For the first time, it was realized that it might actually be possible to save the species. However, the situation was dire. Though the island lacked stoats, feral cats killed an estimated 50% of the newly discovered population between 1977 and 1982. Action had to be taken fast.

The birds were moved to islands that lacked introduced predators and a Kakapo Recovery Plan was developed by New Zealand wildlife officials in 1989. Officials worked to eradicate predators on Codfish island to make it a suitable home for the birds. Cats, possums, and stoats were shot until they were finally eradicated, while rats were poisoned. At times when the birds nested (a rare event), the eggs were taken and placed in incubators so that most would hatch and could be raised successfully. Females diets were also supplemented with the appropriate nutrients to encourage successful nesting even though the required fruits of natural plants weren’t available.

In 2001, scientists predicted that a certain plant that Kakapos use for breeding, the fruit of the rimu tree (a type of pine), would be produced in great amounts on Codfish Island. All 21 females old enough to breed were moved to the island. In all, 20 of the birds laid eggs, and 24 chicks were successfully raised by early 2002. Compared to the 15 known chicks of the last 20 years, it was an enormous success as the known population rose from 62 to 86.

As it currently stands, the effort continues. With a population so low, disaster could strike quick quickly. Fortunately there is hope.