Kakapo Awareness, parrot going extinct

I recently found out about this parrot only found in New Zealand, the Kakapo also called the Owl Parrot: Here's a picture and parrot info of the flightless 'little' guy

Info: Kakapo

If I owned one I wood call it Big Ben, how about you ?

Did you know that kakapos are actually the worlds largest parrot? Many questionnaires will say it's the hyacinth macaw, but a kakapo can out-weigh a hyacinth by double! Did you know that they are known as the "owl parrot" - not only for their owl like features, but because they are nocturnal birds? Oh, and they have one night stands! Kakapos are one species that do not mate for life, let alone one mating season!

The most famous kakapo is probably Sirocco, and if you view the following video, you'll see why!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY]Shagged by a rare parrot - Last Chance To See - BBC Two - YouTube[/ame]

Barbara Heidenreich's blogs on working with Sirocco are definitely worth a read! As well as watching her videos training him!

Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: sirocco



Sadly, Kakapos are rarer than spix macaws, and also less famous than they are, so there are less people who are aware of them.

And they don't fly, they are climbers. I read about them several months ago and have begun collecting various Kakapo items.

Kakapo Bird | eBay

I found them several years ago, and absolutely love their little faces. Here is my favorite quote about them, "The kakapo is a bird out of time. If you look one in its large, round, greeny-brown face, it has a look of serenely innocent incomprehension that makes you want to hug it and tell it that everything will be all right, though you know that it probably will not be." - Douglas Adams, British author, 1990.

If you want to donate or learn more, here is the recovery website:
Home of the Kakapo Recovery Programme | Kakapo Recovery Programme

For those of you interested in rare species... I'm sure most people are aware of the spix macaw, so I wont post about that.... but here's another one... the indigo winged parrot, once thought to be extinct!

https://www.google.com/search?q=indigo+winged+parrot&sugexp=chrome,mod=2&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

wow. i want one! imagine if we all got one as a pet, they wouldnt go extinct

BreannPearlLang said:

wow. i want one! imagine if we all got one as a pet, they wouldnt go extinct

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I sounds like they were doing all right on their own. Now that everyone knows about them and wants one I suspect that they are going to be poached wholesale.

SpringCottageParrot said:

I sounds like they were doing all right on their own. Now that everyone knows about them and wants one I suspect that they are going to be poached wholesale.

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Considering that these birds are located on protected islands, I'd be surprised if someone tried going out of their way to obtain a kakapo. It's just not worth it, and they are too rare for any smart poacher to go out and capture one. An idiot would most likely be caught immediately. You would not be able to travel by plane with one of these birds, and any place with ports for boats would probably confiscate the bird.

The birds aren't actually doing fine on their own... a lot of breeding is from human intervention. They had to capture all the wild kakapos and place them on islands to protect them from the invasive species on the main lands (thanks to humans), and I think they had to be 'replanted' to another island again due to predation/bad soil, although I could be wrong. From what I've been reading, they have been doing artificial incubation and hand raising of chicks where/when required as well as artificial insemination to improve the population as well as success rate of chicks surviving.

Although the majority of kakapos are wild parrots (i.e. not handled or interacted with by humans unless when necessary), they are still highly monitored and watched over by humans.

Successful artificial insemination a world first | Kakapo Recovery Programme