New Zealand's 236 Kākāpō Parrots Enter First Breeding Season

The world's rarest parrots are finally ready to start families again, and conservationists couldn't be more thrilled.

New Zealand's kākāpō, giant flightless parrots with moss-green feathers and booming mating calls, have entered their first breeding season since 2022. Only 236 of these remarkable birds exist today, making every breeding season a cause for celebration.

These nocturnal parrots don't breed on a schedule. Instead, they wait for their favorite food source, the ancient rimu tree, to produce a massive fruit crop every two to four years. When the trees finally fruited this year, the kākāpō got the signal.

The birds nearly disappeared forever by the mid-1900s when human expansion across New Zealand brought predators and habitat loss. Just 51 kākāpō remained at their lowest point. Through decades of dedicated conservation work, including fitting every single bird with a radio transmitter, teams have slowly rebuilt the population.

This breeding season could produce more chicks than any other in the 30 years since records began. All 83 breeding females are being closely monitored as they prepare to lay eggs.

The Bright Side

Conservation teams are changing their approach this year in the best possible way. Instead of removing eggs to incubators and hand-raising chicks, they're letting kākāpō parents do more of the work themselves.

"We want to create healthy, self-sustaining populations of kākāpō that are thriving, not just surviving," said Deidre Vercoe, operations manager for kākāpō recovery at New Zealand's Department of Conservation. The goal is reducing human interference so the birds can return to their natural behaviors.

During breeding season, male kākāpō gather to create impressive displays. They build networks of paths and bowl-shaped depressions that amplify their deep, resonating calls. Night after night for weeks or months, they boom their mating songs across the forest, attracting females to these communal areas.

After mating, female kākāpō handle parenting solo, incubating eggs and raising chicks without help from the males. Most mothers raise one chick per breeding season.

The first kākāpō chicks are expected to hatch in mid-February, adding precious new members to one of the world's most exclusive bird populations.

After three decades of intensive rescue efforts, these ancient parrots are finally learning to survive on their own again.