kakapo

kakapo
/kah'keuh poh"/, n., pl. kakapos /-pohz"/.
a large, almost flightless nocturnal parrot, Strigops habroptilus, of New Zealand: an endangered species.
[1835-45; < Maori kakapo (kaka KAKA + po night)]

* * *

bird
also called  owl parrot  

      giant flightless nocturnal parrot (family Psittacidae) of New Zealand. With a face like an owl, a posture like a penguin, and a walk like a duck, the extraordinarily tame and gentle kakapo is one of strangest and rarest birds on Earth.

      Heaviest of the world's parrots, the 64-cm (25-inch) kakapo weighs up to 6 kg (13 pounds) and has moss-coloured green-and-brown plumage, a long, rounded tail, and a stout, blunt, pale yellow bill. On its brownish gray legs, the parrot waddles long distances to feeding areas, where it chews plants for their juices and digs up rhizomes to crush them with its ridged bill. Males construct pathways to excavated mating arenas known as leks (lek), where they gather in traditional spots to call and display for females. In a plate-sized depression often at the crest of a rocky knoll, the male inflates his chest like a bloated bullfrog, heaves his thorax, bobs his head, and releases a resonant boom like the sound made by blowing across the top of a large bottle. The call lasts all night and carries for half a mile (0.8 km). Females nest in holes in the ground, where they rear two or three white, pear-shaped chicks alone.

      The species was feared extinct in the 1950s, a victim of competitors and predators such as rats, weasels, cats, and ferrets introduced by both Maori and European immigrants. In 1961 one was captured, and surveys launched by New Zealand's Wildlife Service revealed that by 1977 some birds had still survived—all male. That year a population of about 200 was discovered on Stewart Island off the southern tip of South Island, but here the birds were threatened by feral cats. The government eventually evacuated 61 kakapo to three predator-free offshore island sanctuaries. Breeding success in the wild has been augmented by a supplementary feeding program and artificial incubation, but there are still fewer than 100 kakapo remaining.

Sy Montgomery
 

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kakapo — Conservation status Critically Endangered ( …   Wikipedia

  • Kakapo — (Strigops habroptilus) Systematik Klasse: Vögel (Aves) Ordnung: P …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • kakapo — ● kakapo nom masculin Perroquet grimpeur, nocturne et frugivore des forêts de Nouvelle Zélande, en voie de disparition. kakapo [kakapo] n. m. ÉTYM. Mil. XXe, dans les dict.; probablt XIXe en zool. (1843 en anglais); mot maori, de kaka « perroquet …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • kakapo — KAKÁPO s.m. Papagal bufniţă din Noua Zeelandă. (din amer. kakapo < cuv. maori) Trimis de tavi, 13.07.2004. Sursa: MDN …   Dicționar Român

  • Kakapo — Ka ka*po , n. (Zo[ o]l.) A singular nocturnal parrot ({Strigops habroptilus}), native of New Zealand. It lives in holes during the day, but is active at night. It resembles an owl in its colors and general appearance. It has large wings, but can… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Kakapo — Kakapo, s. Papageien …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Kakapo — Kakapo, s. Eulenpapageien [Abb. 534] …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • kakapo — [kä΄kä pō′] n. pl. kakapos [Maori < kākā, parrot + pō, night] a rare, owl like, burrowing parrot (Strigops habroptilus) of New Zealand having a green body with brown and yellow markings …   English World dictionary

  • Kakapo — Strigops kakapo Kakapo …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kakapo — pelėdinė papūga statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Strigops habroptilus angl. kakapo vok. Kakapo, n rus. какапо, m; совиный попугай, m pranc. strigops kakapo, m ryšiai: platesnis terminas – pelėdinės papūgos …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”