Critically Endangered
Kakapo
Strigops habroptila
Kakapo is the only parrot that cannot fly and the heaviest of its kind.
Appearance
The upper parts of the Kakapo have yellowish moss-green feathers barred or mottled with black or dark brownish grey, blending well with native vegetation. Individuals may have strongly varying degrees of mottling and colour tone and intensity – museum specimens show that some birds had completely yellow colouring. The breast and flank are yellowish-green streaked with yellow.
Kakapo are the heaviest living parrots and typically weigh about 400 g (14 oz) more than a hyacinth macaw, the largest parrot that still flies.
Adults measure 58 to 64 cm (23 to 25 in) in length with a wingspan of 82 cm (32 in). Males average 2 kg (4.4 lb) against 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) for females.
Range and habitat
Before people arrived, the Kakapo lived across both main islands of New Zealand. Although it may have inhabited Stewart Island before human arrival, the fossil beds there have not yielded it. Kakapo used habitats such as tussocklands, scrublands and coastal areas.
Surviving animals are named, tagged, and kept on four small New Zealand islands, each cleared of predators; even so, in 2023, a return to mainland New Zealand (Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari) went ahead. Although the Kakapo was extinct in many parts of the islands by the time Europeans arrived, among them the Tararua and Aorangi Ranges, it was still in the central North Island and forested parts of the South Island.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The Kakapo is active at night; by day it hides in trees or on the ground; after dark it moves through its territory. Even though the Kakapo cannot fly, it climbs well, and can reach the crowns of tall trees.
While climbing, it uses its wings to keep balance. Unlike most birds, the Kakapo eats plants — fruits, seeds, leaves, stems, and rhizomes. Kakapo are the only flightless bird with a lek breeding system.
In crisis
The known living population is 325 (as of 2026). Introduced mammals — cats, rats, ferrets, and stoats came close to wiping out the Kakapo. Even so, the Kakapo population in New Zealand has declined massively since human settlement of the country, and its conservation status as ranked by the Department of Conservation continues to be "Nationally Critical".
By the 1870s collectors already knew the Kakapo population was declining, yet they still took skins as the numbers fell. In the 1880s, large numbers of mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels) were released in New Zealand to reduce rabbit numbers, but they also preyed heavily on many native species among them the Kakapo.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Kakapo is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Kākāpō, Wikidata item Q179959. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
