Kākāpō
| Kakapo | |
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| Scientific classification | |
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| Tribe: | Strigopini
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| Genus: | Strigops Gray, 1845
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| Species: | S. habroptilus
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| Binomial name | |
| Strigops habroptilus Gray, 1845
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The Kakapo (Māori: kākāpō, meaning night parrot), Strigops habroptilus (from the Greek strix, genitive strigos: owl and ops: face; and habros: soft, and ptilon: feather), also called Owl parrot, is a species of nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand.[1] It is notable for being the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, and the only parrot to have a lek breeding system. It is also the only flightless lek bird and is possibly one of the world's longest-living birds.
Kakapo are critically endangered, with only 86 living individuals known, all of which have been given individual names.[2] The ancestral Kakapo migrated to the islands of New Zealand in prehistory,and, in the absence of mammalian predators, it lost the ability to fly. With Polynesian and European colonisation and the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, and stoats, almost all the Kakapo were wiped out. Conservation efforts began in the 1890s, but they were not very successful until the implementation of the Kakapo Recovery Plan in the 1980s. All surviving Kakapo are kept on three predator-free islands, Chalky Island in southwest Fiordland, Codfish Island/Whenuahou near Stewart Island/Rakiura and Anchor Island in Dusky Sound, where they are closely monitored.
The conservation of the Kakapo has made the species well known. Numerous books for adults and children and many documentaries detailing the plight of the Kakapo have been produced in recent years. The two most significant documentaries are Kakapo Night Parrot made in 1982, and To Save the Kakapo which featured the 1997 season. Both have been made by NHNZ. The BBC's Natural History Unit has also featured Kakapo, including a sequence with Sir David Attenborough in Life of Birds.
Description
Kakapo are large, rotund parrots: males measure up to 60 centimetres (24 in) and weigh between 2 and 4 kilograms (4.5–9 lb) at maturity.[3] They are unable to fly, having short wings for their size and lacking the pronounced keel bone (sternum) that anchors the flight muscles of other birds. They use their wings for balance, support, and to break their falls when leaping from trees. Unlike other land birds, Kakapo can accumulate large amounts of body fat to store energy, which makes them the heaviest parrot.[4]
Kakapo have moss-green feathers barred with black on the back, blending well with native vegetation. As the feathers do not need the strength and stiffness required for flight, they are exceptionally soft, giving rise to the specific epithet habroptilus. Their underbellies, necks, and faces are yellowish with great variability between individuals. It is known from museum specimens that some birds had completely yellow colouring. Kakapo have a facial disc of fine feathers, resembling the face of an owl; thus early European settlers called it the "owl parrot". Their beaks are surrounded by delicate "whiskers", which they use to sense the ground as they walk with their heads lowered. The ends of their tail feathers often become worn from being continually dragged on the ground. Kakapo feet are large, scaly and, as in all parrots, zygodactyl (two toes face forward and two backward). They have pronounced claws that are particularly useful for climbing.
Like many parrots, Kakapo have a wide range of calls used for various purposes. In addition to the "booms" (see section "Media" for a recording) and chings of their mating calls, they are often known to skraark to announce their location to other birds.
Kakapo have a well-developed sense of smell which complements their nocturnal lifestyle.[5] They can also discriminate among odours while foraging; this behaviour has only been reported for one other parrot species.[5] One of the most striking characteristics of Kakapo is their pleasant and powerful odour, which has been variously described as like flowers and honey, an air freshener, or the inside of an antique violin case. Given the Kakapo's well-developed sense of smell this scent may be a social chemosignal. The smell has often led predators right to the relatively defenseless Kakapo.
Classification
The Kakapo has so many unusual features that it was initially placed in its own family, Strigopidae, however is recognised today as a member of the parrot family, Psittacidae. Its distinctiveness is highlighted by its classification in its own genus, Strigops, and tribe, Strigopini, in the subfamily Psittacinae. Some maintain the kakapo in a subfamily of its own, Strigopinae.[6]
Earlier ornithologists felt the Kakapo may be related to the Ground Parrot and Night Parrot of Australia, though some suggested the Nestorini.[7] In a DNA study in 2005 it was finally recognised as having affinities with the genus Nestor containing the Kaka and the Kea, the three species forming an ancient group which split off from all other Psittacidae before their radiation.[8]
Ecology and behaviour
The only mammals native to New Zealand are three species of small bats (one now extinct), and it seems that Kakapo have adapted to fill the niches that mammals occupy in other parts of the world. Before the arrival of humans, Kakapo were largely distributed throughout the three main islands of New Zealand. They lived in a wide variety of habitats including tussocklands, scrublands and coastal areas. They also inhabited a variety of forests including those dominated by podocarps (rimu, matai, kahikatea, totara), beeches, tawa, and rata. They particularly favored forest margins and areas of regenerating forest for the wider variety of vegetation in a compact area. In Fiordland, areas of avalanche and slip debris with regenerating and heavily fruiting vegetation such as five finger, wineberry, bush lawyer, tutu, hebes, and coprosmas became known as "Kakapo gardens".
Kakapo are primarily nocturnal, roosting under cover in trees or on the ground during the day and roving their territories at night.[1] Though the Kakapo cannot fly, they are excellent climbers, ascending to the crowns of the tallest trees. They have also been known to "parachute" from heights by spreading their wings, floating gently to the forest floor. Having lost the ability to fly, they have developed very strong legs. In the course of a night's feeding they may walk several kilometres and climb 300 metres (1000 ft) up hills and down again. Kakapo are able to run at a fair speed, but cannot sustain their speed for long distances.
Kakapo are naturally curious, and though they live solitary lives in remote places, they have been known to enjoy the occasional company of humans. Conservation staff and volunteers have interacted extensively with some birds, and they are known to have distinct personalities.
One behaviour that has not recently served the Kakapo well is their reaction to a predator or threat. When Kakapo feel threatened, they simply freeze, hoping to blend in with the vegetation that they so resemble. This was a good strategy to foil their main native predator, the giant Haast's Eagle. However, it does not protect them from their new mammalian predators, which rely on an excellent sense of smell. A typical way of humans to hunt down Kakapo is by releasing trained dogs.[9]
Diet
The beak of the Kakapo is specially adapted for grinding food very finely. For this reason, Kakapo have very small gizzards compared to other birds of their size. They are generally herbivorous, eating a wide variety of native plants, seeds, fruits, pollens and even the sapwood of trees. A study in 1984 revealed 25 plant species were identified as Kakapo food.[1] They are particularly fond of the fruit of the rimu tree, and will feed on it exclusively during seasons when it is abundant. Kakapo have a distinctive habit of grabbing a leaf or frond with a foot and stripping the nutritious parts of the plant out with their beaks, leaving a ball of indigestible fiber. The little clumps of plant fibers are a distinctive sign of the presence of Kakapo.[10][11]
Kakapo diet changed seasonally. The plants taken most frequently during the year include some species of Lycopodium ramulosum, Lycopodium fastigium, Schizaea fistulosa, Blechnum minus, Blechnum procerum, Cyathodes juniperina, Dracophyllum longifolium, Olearia colensoi and Thelymitra venosa. Individual plant species of the same species are often treated differently. Kakapo left conspicuous evidence of their feeding activities, from 10×10 m to 50×100 m feeding ground areas.[1] Manuka and yellow silver pine scrub are obvious sign of their center of feeding activities.
Reproduction
Kakapo are the only parrots in the world that have a lek breeding system. Males loosely gather in an arena and compete with each other to attract females to mate. Females watch the males display or "lek".[12] They choose a mate based on the quality of his display; they are not pursued by the males in any overt way. No pair bond is formed and males and females meet only to mate.
During the courting season, males leave their usual territories for hilltops and ridges where they each establish their own mating courts. These leks can be up to 7 kilometres (4 mi) from a Kakapo's usual territory and are an average of 50 metres (160 ft) apart within the lek arena. Males remain in the region of their court throughout the courting season. At the start of the breeding season, males will fight to try to secure the best courts. They confront each other with raised feathers, spread wings, open beaks, raised claws and loud screeching and growling. Fighting may leave birds with injuries.
Each court consists of a series of bowl-like depressions dug in the ground by the male, up to 10 centimetres (4 in) deep and long enough to fit the half-meter length of the bird. Bowls are often created next to rock faces, banks, or tree trunks to help reflect sound. Each male’s bowls are connected by a network of trails or tracks which may extend 50 metres (160 ft) along a ridge or 20 metres (60 ft) in diameter around a hilltop. Males meticulously clear their bowls and tracks of debris. One way researchers check whether bowls are visited at night is to place a few twigs in the bowl, knowing that if the male visits overnight he will pick them up in his beak and toss them away.
To attract females, males make loud, low-frequency booming calls from their bowls by inflating a thoracic sac.[13] They start with low grunts increasing in volume as the sac inflates. After a sequence of about 20 loud booms, the volume drops off. The male Kakapo then stands up for a short while before again lowering his head, inflating his chest and starting another sequence of booms. The booms can be heard for at least one kilometre (0.6 mi) on a still night and wind can carry the sound at least five kilometres (3 mi). Males boom for an average of eight hours a night; each male may produce thousands of booms in this time. This may continue every night for three or four months during which time the male may lose half his body weight. Each male moves around the bowls in his court so that the booms are sent out in different directions.
Females are attracted by the booms of the competing males; they too may need to walk several kilometers from their territories to the arena. There a female enters the court of one of the males. The male then performs a display in which he will rock from side to side and make clicking noises with his beak. He will turn his back to the female, spread his wings in display and walk backwards towards her. When in the presence of a female, males apparently become sexually excited, and may attempt to copulate with objects other than female Kakapo. Little is known about copulation but it is believed to be brief. Once the birds have mated, the female returns to her home territory to lay eggs and raise the chicks. The male continues booming in the hope of attracting another female.
Female Kakapo lay up to three eggs per breeding cycle.[13] They nest on the ground under the cover of plants or in cavities such as hollow tree trunks. They incubate the eggs faithfully, but are forced to leave them every night in search of food. Predators are known to eat the eggs. They may also freeze to death in the mother's absence. Kakapo eggs usually hatch within 30 days,[13] bearing fluffy gray chicks that are quite helpless. After the eggs hatch the female feeds the chicks herself for three months, and the chicks continue to remain with the female for some months after fledging.[13] The young chicks are just as vulnerable to predators as the eggs, and young have been killed by many of the same predators that attack adults. Chicks leave the nest at about 10 to 12 weeks of age. As they gain greater independence, their mothers may feed the chicks sporadically for up to 6 months.
Since Kakapo are quite long-lived, they tend to enjoy an adolescence before beginning breeding. Males do not start to boom until about 5 years of age. Females do not seek out males until they are between 9 and 11 years old. Although this is quite a long delay before they start to reproduce, Kakapo are thought to live at least 60 years, leaving plenty of time to perpetuate the species. Kakapo do not breed every year and have one of the lowest rates of reproduction among birds. Breeding occurs only in years when trees mast (fruit heavily), providing a plentiful food supply. Rimu mast occurs only every three to five years, so in rimu-dominant forest such as on Codfish Island, Kakapo breeding occurs as infrequently.
Conservation
The population of Kakapo in New Zealand has been significantly reduced since human habitation of the country. Since 1891 conservation efforts have been attempted to prevent extinction. The most successful scheme has been the Kakapo Recovery Plan which was implemented in 1989.
Human impact
The first factor in the decline of the Kakapo was the arrival of humans. According to Māori folklore, Kakapo were found almost throughout the country when they Polynesians first arrived in Aotearoa 1,000 years ago.[14] Māori settlers from Polynesia hunted the Kakapo for food and for their skins and feathers, which were made into luxurious capes.[14] They also used the dried heads as ear ornaments. Due to its flightlessness, strong scent and habit of freezing in the face of danger, the Kakapo was easy prey for Māori and the dogs they brought to the islands. Their eggs and chicks were also predated by the Polynesian Rat or kiore which Māori brought to New Zealand.[12] Furthermore, the deliberate clearing of vegetation by Māori reduced the habitable range for Kakapo. Kakapo were extinct in many parts of the islands by the time Europeans arrived.[15]
From the 1840s, European settlers cleared huge amounts of land for farming and grazing, further jeopardising the Kakapo and their habitat. They brought more dogs and other mammalian predators including domestic cats, black rats and stoats, all of which killed Kakapo.[16] Europeans knew little of the Kakapo until George Gray of the British Museum described it from a skin in 1845. As the Māori had done, early European explorers and their dogs fed on Kakapo. In the late 1800s, Kakapo became well-known as a scientific curiosity, and thousands were captured or killed for zoos, museums and collectors. Most captured specimens died within months. From at least the 1870s, collectors knew that Kakapo were declining and possibly on the way to extinction. Unfortunately, their prime concern was to collect as many as possible before they were all gone.
In the 1880s, mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels) were released in large numbers in New Zealand in an attempt to reduce rabbit numbers,[17] but they also preyed heavily on many native species including the Kakapo. Other browsing animals, such as introduced deer, compete with Kakapo for food, and have caused the extinction of some preferred plant species.
Early protection efforts
In 1891, the New Zealand government set aside Resolution Island in Fiordland as a nature reserve and in 1894 appointed Richard Henry as caretaker. A keen naturalist, Henry was aware that native birds were declining, he began catching and moving Kakapo and kiwi from the mainland to the free-predator Resolution Island. In six years, he moved over 200 Kakapo to Resolution Island. Sadly, by 1900 stoats had swum to Resolution Island, colonised it, and killed all the Kakapo there within 6 years.[18]
In 1903, three Kakapo were moved from Resolution Island to the nature reserve of Hauturu/Little Barrier Island north-east of Auckland, but feral cats were present on the island and the Kakapo were never seen again. In 1912, three Kakapo were moved to another reserve, Kapiti Island north-west of Wellington. One of them survived until at least 1936, despite the presence of feral cats for part of that period.[18]
By the 1920s, Kakapo were extinct on the North Island and their range and numbers on the South Island greatly reduced.[15] One of their last refuges was rugged Fiordland. There, during the 1930s, they were often seen or heard, and occasionally eaten, by hunters or roadworkers. By the 1940s, reports of Kakapo were becoming scarce.
1950–1989 conservation efforts
In the 1950s, the New Zealand Wildlife Service was established and began making regular expeditions to search for Kakapo, mostly in Fiordland and what is now the Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island. Seven Fiordland expeditions between 1951 and 1956 found only a few recent signs. Finally, in 1958 a Kakapo was caught and released in the Milford Sound catchment area in Fiordland. Further six Kakapo were captured in 1961; one being released and the other five transferred to the aviaries of the Mount Bruce Bird Reserve near Masterton in the North Island. Within months, four of the birds had died and the fifth died after about four years. In the next 12 years regular expeditions found few signs of Kakapo, indicating that numbers were continuing to decline. Only one bird was captured in 1967 and died the following year.
By the early 1970s, it was uncertain whether Kakapo had survived. At the end of 1974, scientists located several more male Kakapo and made the first scientific observations of Kakapo booming. The observations led Don Merton to speculate for the first time that Kakapo had a lek breeding system.[12] From 1974 to 1976, 14 Kakapo were discovered but all appeared to be males. One male bird was captured in the Milford area in 1975, christened "Richard Henry", and transferred to Maud Island. This raised the possibility that all the females had died and the species was functionally extinct. All the birds the Wildlife Service discovered from 1951 to 1976 were in U-shaped glaciated valleys flanked by almost-vertical cliffs and surrounded by high mountains. Such extreme terrain had slowed colonisation by browsing mammals, leaving virtual islands of unmodified native vegetation. However, even here, stoats were present and by 1976 Kakapo were gone from the valley floors and only a few males survived high on the most inaccessible parts of the cliffs.[4]
Prior 1977, no expedition ever went to Stewart Island/Rakiura, despite government workers seeing a Kakapo there and snatching feathers from it in 1949. In 1977 sightings of Kakapo were reported on Stewart Island.[4] An expedition to the island found a track and bowl system on its first day, soon after that they located several dozen Kakapo. The finding in an 8,000 ha area of fire-modified scrubland and forest raised hope that the population would include females. The total population was estimated at 100 to 200 birds.[19]
Mustelids have never colonised Steward Island/Rakiura, but feral cats were present. It was apparent that cats kill Kakapo with the predation rate of 56% per annum.[20] By this rate, the birds could not have been survived in 100 years after the first introduction of cats in the island. It turned out that the cats had learned how to kill the birds.[4] Intensive cat control was introduced in 1982 and no cat-killed Kakapo were found after that, but to ensure the survival of the remaining birds, all of them were transferred to predator-free islands during 1982 to 1997.[21]
Kakapo Recovery Plan
| Kakapo Translocations 1974–1992 [21] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Translocated to | #Kakapo | Deaths < 6 months | Survived as of Nov. 1992 |
| Maud Island (1974–81) | 9 (6m, 3f) | 3 (2m, 1f) | 4 (2m, 2f) |
| Little Barrier Island (1982) | 22 (13m, 9f) | 2 (1m, 1f) | 15–19 (10–12m, 5–7f) |
| Codfish Island (1987–92) | 30 (20m, 10f) | 0 | 20–30 (13–20m, 7–10f) |
| Maud Island (1989–91) | 6 (4m, 2f) | 0 | 5 (3m, 2f) |
| Mana Island (1992) | 2 (2f) | 1 (1f) | 1 (1f) |
| Total | 65 (43m, 22f) | 6 (4m, 2f) | 41–55 (27–36m, 14–19f) |
In 1989, a Kakapo Recovery Plan was developed and a Kakapo Recovery Group established to implement it.[22] The New Zealand's Department of Conservation replaced the Wildlife Service for this task. The first action of the plan was to relocate all the remaining Kakapo to suitable islands for them to breed. None of the New Zealand islands were ideal to establish Kakapo without rehabilitation by extensive revegetation and eradicating predators and competitors. Four islands were finally chosen, Maud, Hauturu/Little Barrier, Codfish and Mana.[21] Some islands had to be rehabilitated several times when feral cats, stoats and weka kept appearing on the islands. Sixty-five Kakapo (43 males, 22 females) have been successfully transferred into the four islands in five translocations.[21]
One key factor during the Recovery Plan is the supplementary feeding to the females. Kakapo breed only once every two to five years, when a certain type of plant species, primarily Dacrydium cupressinum (rimu), produces protein-rich of fruit and seeds. Observations to the relationship between intermittent breeding and the plant's mast year help biologists to choose which suitable supplementary foods to increase Kakapo breeding frequency.[23] In 1989, six preferred foods (apple, sweet potato, almonds, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and walnuts) were supplied ad libitum each night to 12 feeding stations. Both male and females ate the supplied foods and females nested on Little Barrier Island for the first time in seven years during summer of 1989–91, although nesting success was low.[24]
Kakapo breeding can be controlled by the supplementary foods, but not their nest protection against Polynesian rats. Of 21 chicks that hatched between 1981 and 1994, nine were either killed by rats or died and were subsequently eaten by rats.[23] Nest protection has been intensified since 1995 by using traps and poison stations as soon as a nest had been detected. A small video camera and infra-red light source watch the nest continuously, which will remotely scare approaching rats by small bang and flash lights. To increase the success rate of nesting, a nest watcher would place a small thermostatically controlled electric blanket over the eggs or chicks, whenever the female left the nest for food. The survival rate of chicks from the protected nest increased to 75% from 29% of the unprotected one.[23]
To monitor the Kakapo population continuously, each bird was equipped with a radio transmitter.[23] Every known Kakapo has been given a name by Kakapo Recovery Programme officials. An affectionate way for conservation staff to refer to individual birds, it is also a stark reminder of how few remain. Artificial incubation of eggs and hand-raising of chicks interventions were often applied to strengthen conditions of the eggs and the chicks. As of November 2005, the population comprised 41 females and 45 males, including four fledging (3 females and 1 male) bred in 2005.[4] The oldest surviving Kakapo, the "Richard Henry", was still alive (probably more than 40 years old).
The Kakapo Recovery Plan has been a successful program as the numbers of Kakapo increased steadily. The adult survival and their productivity has improved significantly. However, the main goal is to establish at least one viable, self-sustaining, unmanaged population of Kakapo as a functional component of the ecosystem in a protected habitat.[25] To accept this conservation challenge, two large Fiordland islands, Resolution (20,860 ha) and Secretary (8,140 ha), have been prepared with a large-scale ecological restoration.[4]
Media
Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end
References
- ^ a b c d H.A. Best (1984). "The Foods of Kakapo on Stewart Island as Determined from Their Feeding Sign" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 7: 71–83.
- ^ "KAKAPO PARROTS - The 86 Names". anotherchancetosee.com. 2006-08-04. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); External link in|publisher= - ^ Higgins, P.J. (ed.). (1999). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Vol. 4: parrots to dollarbird. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
- ^ a b c d e f Ralph G. Powlesland , Don V. Merton, and John F. Cockrem. "A parrot apart: the natural history of the kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), and the context of its conservation management" (PDF). Notornis. 53 (1): 3–26. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Hagelin, Julie C. (2004). Observations on the olfactory ability of the Kakapo Strigops habroptilus, the critically endangered parrot of New Zealand. IBIS 146: 161-164
- ^ Turbott, E.G. (1990) Checklist of the birds of New Zealand and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica. Random Century, in association with the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Auckland.
- ^ Smith, G.A. (1975) Systematics of parrots. Ibis 117: 18-66.
- ^ de Kloet, R.S.; de Kloet, S.R. (2005). The evolution of the spindlin gene in birds: sequence analysis of an intron of the spindlin W and Z gene reveals four major divisions of the Psittaciformes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36: 706-721.
- ^ R. Henry (1903). The habits of flightless birds of New Zealand: with notes on other flightless New Zealand birds. Wellington: Government Printer.
- ^ Gray, R.S. (1977) The kakapo (Strigops habroptilus, Gray 1847), its food, feeding and habitat in Fiordland and Maud Island. M.Sc. thesis, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
- ^ Atkinson, I. A. E. & Merton, D. V. (2006) Habitat and diet of kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) in the Esperance Valley, Fiordland, New Zealand. Notornis 53 (1) 37–54
- ^ a b c Merton, D.V. (1976). Conservation of the kakapo: a progress report. In Proc. Science in Nat. Parks. . National Parks Authority, Wellington, N.Z. National Parks Series No. 6: 139-148.
- ^ a b c d J.F. Cockrem (2002). "Reproductive biology and conservation of the endangered kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) in New Zealand". Avian and Poultry Biology Reviews. 13 (3): 139–144.
- ^ a b Rob Tipa (2006). "Kakapo in maori lore" (PDF). Notornis. 53 (1). Retrieved 2007-02-06.
- ^ a b G. R. Williams (1956). "The Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus, Gray): a review and reappraisal of a near-extinct species". Notornis. 7 (2): 29–56.
- ^ W. J. Sutherland. "Conservation Biology: Science, Sex and the Kakapo". Nature. 419: 265–266.
- ^ Murphy, E & Dowding, J. (1995) "Ecology of the stoat in Nothofagus forest: home range, habitat use and diet at different stages of the beech mast cycle" New Zealand Journal of Ecology 19(2): 97-109 [1]
- ^ a b Hill, S.; Hill, J. 1987. Richard Henry of Resolution Island. Dunedin, John McIndoe.
- ^ Powlesland, R.G.; Roberts, A.; Lloyd, B. D. and Merton, D.V. (1995). "Number, fate and distribution of kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) found on Stewart Island, New Zealand, 1979-92" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 22: 239–248.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Karl, B.J. and Best, H.A. (1982). "Feral cats on Stewart Island: their foods and their effects on kakapo". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 9: 287–294.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d B. D. Lloyd and R. G. Powlesland (1994). "The decline of kakapo Strigops habroptilus and attempts at conservation by translocation". Biological Conservation. 69 (1): 75–85.
- ^ Powlesland, R.G. (1989). Kakapo recovery plan 1989-1994. Wellington: Department of Conservation.
- ^ a b c d Elliott, G.P.; Merton, D.V.; Jansen, P.W. (2001). "Intensive management of a critically endangered species: the kakapo". Biological Conservation. 99 (1): 121–133.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ R. G. Powlesland and B. D. Lloyd (1994). "Use of supplementary feeding to induce breeding in free-living kakapo Strigops habroptilus in New Zealand". Biological Conservation. 69 (1): 97–106.
- ^ Cresswell, M. (1996). Kakapo recovery plan 1996-2005. Threatened Species Recovery Plan No. 21. Wellington: Department of Conservation.
- Butler, David (1989). Quest for the kakapo. Auckland; Heinemann Reed. ISBN 0-7900-0065-2. 136 p. A detailed account of the Kakapo story to 1989.
- Climo, Gideon & Ballance, Alison (1997). Hoki: the story of a kakapo. Auckland; Godwit. ISBN 1-86962-009-7. 60 p. An intimate look at the first five years of one hand-reared Kakapo’s life.
- Jones, Jenny (2003). The Kakapo. Auckland; Reed. ISBN 1-86948-662-5. 32 p. Written for children but an excellent and up-to-date account for all ages.
- Mussen, Deidre (May 2006). "Island of the parrots". Air New Zealand Magazine. ACP Media. pp. 42–49.
- Notornis (Journal of the Ornothological Society of NZ) vol 53, no 1, 2006. Special Issue: "A celebration of kakapo: progress in the conservation of an enigmatic parrot." [2]
External links
- Kakapo Recovery Program
- TerraNature page on Kakapo
- New Zealand Department of Conservation Kakapo Page
- Rare parrot receives special care (article from BBC News)
- Saving Kakapo: an illustrated history by Murray Williams and Don Merton, in: 'Notornis (Journal), vol. 53/1, 2006' Provided by the Ornithological Society of New Zealand.
- ARKive - images and movies of the Kakapo