Strigops habroptila Gray, 1845:62
Kakapo (Māori), Kākāpō, Owl parrot
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Strigops habroptilus Gray, 1845 [orthographic error]; Rhigops habroptelus Gray, 1845; Strigops habroptilus habroptilus Gray, 1845; Strigops habroptilus innominatus Mathews and Iredale, 1913; Strigops habroptilus parsoni Mathews and Iredale, 1913; Strigops greyii Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 230; Stringops greyi Finsch, Papag. i. p. 253 (1867); Strigopsis habroptilus Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 8 (1850); Stringops habroptilus Van der Hoeven, Handb. Zool. ii. p. 466 (1856); Stringopsis habroptilus Schl. Mus. Pays-Bas, Psittaci, p. 107 (1864)
A complete synonymy taken from (Checklist Committee (OSNZ), 2022:194):
Strigops habroptilus G.R. Gray, 1845: Gen. Birds 2: 427 – Dusky Sound, Fiordland.; Strigopsis habroptilus (G.R. Gray); Bonaparte 1849, Consp. Gen. Avium 1: 8.; Strigops greyii G.R. Gray, 1862: Ibis 4: 230 – South Island.; Stringops (Strigops) habroptilus (G.R. Gray); Potts 1871, Trans. N.Z. Inst. 3: 90.; Stringops habroptilus G.R. Gray; Reichenow 1881, Journ. für Ornith. 29: 15.; Stringops Greyi G.R. Gray; Reichenow 1881, Journ. für Ornith. 29: 15. Unjustified emendation.; Strigops habroptilus habroptilus G.R. Gray; Mathews & Iredale 1913, Ibis 1 (10th series): 427.; Strigops habroptilus innominatus Mathews & Iredale, 1913: Ibis 1 (10th series): 427 – North Island.; Strigops habroptilus parsonsi Mathews & Iredale, 1913: Ibis 1 (10th series): 427 – north-west South Island.; Strigops habroptila G.R. Gray; Dickinson 2003, Complete Checklist Birds World: 181. Emendation.
Conservation Status
Extinct in the wild
Last record: 1976 (only males known)
Rediscovered in 1977 (population with females discovered)
All birds subsequently translocated to predator free islands where they are intensively managed and thus qualify as extinct in the wild
IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered
Although it still existed when it was rediscovered, that population consisted only of 18 males. Hence, it was considered functionally extinct prior to its (functional) rediscovery.
Distribution
North Island, South Island & Stewart Island (Rakiura), New Zealand
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
Above: Stringops habroptilus. Plate 5. From the book A history of the birds of New Zealand., 1873, by Johannes Keulemans. Te Papa (RB001176/005a)
References
Original scientific description:
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Merton, D.; Clout, M. 1999. Kakapo: back from the brink. Wingspan 9(2): 14-17.
Merton, D. V., Morris, R. B., & Atkinson, I. A. (1984). Lek behaviour in a parrot: the kakapo Strigops habroptilus of New Zealand. Ibis 126(3): 277-283. [Abstract]
Merton, Don V., Reed, Christine and Crouchley, Dave. (1999). Recovery strategies and techniques for three free-living, critically-endangered New Zealand birds : kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), black stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae) & takahe (Porphyrio mantelli). Proc. The Seventh World Conference on Breeding Endangered Species, Cincinnati, Ohio, 22-26 May 1999.
Miller, H. C., Lambert, D. M., Millar, C. D., Robertson, B. C., & Minot, E. O. (2003). Minisatellite DNA profiling detects lineages and parentage in the endangered kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) despite low microsatellite DNA variation. Conservation Genetics, 4(3), 265-274.
Millener, P.R. 1999. The history of the Chatham Islands’ bird fauna of the last 7000 years – a chronicle of change and extinction. Pp. 85–109. In: Olson, S.L. (Ed.). Avian paleontology at the close of the 20th Century. Proceedings of the 4th International meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, Washington, D.C., 4–7 June 1996. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 89: i–viii + 1–344.
Miskelly, Colin M., Forsdick, Natalie J., Gill, Brian J., Palma, Ricardo L., Rawlence, Nicolas J. and Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2022). Amendments to the 2010 Checklist of the birds of New Zealand. Ornithological Society of New Zealand Occasional Publication No. 2. Wellington: Ornithological Society of New Zealand.
Miskelly, Colin M. and Powlesland, Ralph G. (2013). Conservation translocations of New Zealand birds, 1863-2012. Notornis 60: 3-28.
Moorehouse, R. 1985: Ecology of kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) liberated on Little Barrier Island (Hauturu). Unpublished report, Department of Conservation.
Moorehouse, R. 1986: Report on kakapo booming activity on Little Barrier Island: January-April 1986. Unpublished report, Department of Conservation.
Moorhouse, R. J., & Powlesland, R. G. (1991). Aspects of the ecology of kakapo Strigops habroptilus liberated on Little Barrier Island (Hauturu), New Zealand. Biological Conservation, 56(3), 349-365.
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Pain, Stephanie. 1990. "Last days of the old night bird". New Scientist 126(1721): 19-23.
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Powlesland, Ralph. (1988). Kakapo Search on Stewart Island. Department of Conservation.
Powlesland, Ralph. (1989). Kakapo recovery plan 1989-1994. Wellington, Department of Conservation.
Powlesland, R. and B. Lloyd, 1990. Progress report of the supplementary feeding of
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Powlesland, R. and B. Lloyd, 1992. Supplementary feeding of kakapo on Little Barrier Island, May 1990 -June 1991. In prep., Science and Research Internal Report, Department of Conservation, Wellington.
Powlesland, Ralph G., & Lloyd, B. D. (1994). Use of supplementary feeding to induce breeding in free-living kakapo Strigops habroptilus in New Zealand. Biological Conservation, 69(1), 97-106. [Abstract]
Powlesland, R. G., Lloyd, B. D., Best, H. A., & Merton, D. V. (1992). Breeding biology of the kakapo Strigops habroptilus on Stewart Island, New Zealand. Ibis 134(4): 361-373. [Abstract]
Powlesland, R. P., Merton, D. V., & Cockrem, J. F. (2006). A parrot apart: the natural history of the kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), and the context of its conservation management. Notornis: 53(1): 3-26.
Powlesland, R. G., Roberts, A., Lloyd, B. D., & Merton, D. V. (1995). Number, fate, and distribution of kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) found on Stewart Island, New Zealand, 1979–92. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 22(3): 239-248.
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Reichenow, A. (1881-2). Conspectus Psittacorum Systematisch Uebersicht aller bekanntcn Papageienarten. J. f. Orn.. 29 (153-6) : 1-234.
Reischek. A. (1884) -Notes on New Zealand ornithology. Trans. NZ Inst. 17: 187-198.
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Robertson, B. C., Frauenfelder, N., Eason, D. K., Elliott, G., & Moorhouse, R. (2009). Thirty polymorphic microsatellite loci from the critically endangered kakapo (Strigops habroptilus). Molecular ecology resources, 9(2), 664-666.
Robertson, B. C., Millar, C. D., Minot, E. O., Merton, D. V., & Lambert, D. M. (2000). Short Communication: Sexing the Critically Endangered Kakapo Strigops habroptilus. Emu, 100(4), 336-339.
Robertson, B. C., Minot, E. O., & Lambert, D. M. (1999). Molecular sexing of individual kakapo, Strigops habroptilus Aves, from faeces. Molecular ecology, 8(8), 1349-1350. [Abstract]
Robertson, B. C., Minot, E. O., and Lambert, D. M. (2000). Microsatellite primers for the kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) and their utility in other parrots. Conservation Genetics 1(1): 93-95.
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Shand, Alexander. (1894). The Moriori people of the Chatham Islands: their traditions and history. J. Polynes. Soc., 3(1): 76-92. [assigns the meho(-)nui to the Kakapo on p. 80]
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Skinner, H. D. (1923). The Morioris of Chatham Islands. Mem. B.P. Bishop Mus., 9(1): 1-140. [p. 136 points out the large number of typographical errors contained in a letter written by H. H. Travers to his father from the Chatham Islands, dated 18 May, 1864, mentioning the former existence of the Kakapo in the Chatham Islands, but driven to extinction by the Polynesians; see Dawson, 1959:111]
St Paul, R. (1951) - Kakapo (in summarised classified notes). Notornis 4: 52.
Stidolph, R. H. D. (1935) -The kakapo. Evening Post, Wellington, 31 August.
Taylor, R. (1855) -Te ika a Maui . . . Wertheim and Macintosh. London.
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Travers, H. H. (1866). On the destruction of the aborigines of Chatham Island. Trans. Ethnol. Soc. Lond.. 11.s. 4: 352-360. [reproduces a letter written by H. H. Travers to his father from the Chatham Islands, dated 18 May, 1864, mentioning the former existence of the Kakapo in the Chatham Islands, but driven to extinction by the Polynesians; see Dawson, 1959:111]
Travers, H. H. (1867). Notes on the Chatham Islands (lat. 40deg. 30min S., long 175deg. W.)" J. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), 9 (35): 135-141. [reproduces a letter written by H. H. Travers to his father from the Chatham Islands, dated 18 May, 1864, mentioning the former existence of the Kakapo in the Chatham Islands, but driven to extinction by the Polynesians; see Dawson, 1959:111]
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http://kakaporecovery.org.nz
http://www.kakapo.net
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/doc-celebrates-70-years-since-rediscovery-takah-once-thought-extinct
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/13/worlds-fattest-parrot-endangered-kakapo-fungal-infection-new-zealand
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/21401/strigops-habroptilus-kakapo
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