Kākāpō
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Kākāpō
Sirocco full length portrait.
Celebrity kākāpō Sirocco on Maud Island
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Nationally Critical (NZ TCS)[2]
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily: Strigopoidea
Family: Strigopidae
Bonaparte, 1849
Genus: Strigops
G.R. Gray, 1845
Species: S. habroptila
Binomial name
Strigops habroptila
G.R. Gray, 1845
Synonyms
Strigops habroptilus
The kākāpō (/ˈkɑːkəpoʊ/ KAH-kə-poh;[3] Māori: [kaːkaːpɔː];[4] pl: kākāpō, (Strigops habroptila), also known as the owl parrot, is a species of large, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrots of the super-family Strigopoidea. The bird is endemic to New Zealand.[5]
Kākāpō can be up to 64 cm (25 in) long. They have a combination of unique traits among parrots: finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct facial disc, owl-style forward-facing eyes with surrounding discs of specially-textured feathers, a large grey beak, short legs, large blue feet, relatively short wings and a short tail. It is the world's only flightless parrot, the world's heaviest parrot, and also is nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in body size, has a low basal metabolic rate, and does not have male parental care. It is the only parrot to have a polygynous lek breeding system. It is also possibly one of the world's longest-living birds, with a reported lifespan of up to 100 years.[6] Adult males weigh around 1.5–3 kilograms (3.3–6.6 lb); the equivalent figure for females is 0.950–1.6 kilograms (2.09–3.53 lb).
