Where it lives:<\/strong> Off the coast of New Zealand on the Codfish, Maud and Little Barrier Islands<\/p>\n What it eats: <\/strong>K\u0101k\u0101p\u014d are vegetarians. Their diet varies with the seasons and includes tubers, fruits, seeds, leaf buds, young plant shoots, fungi and moss.<\/p>\n The first thing that you’ll notice about k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d \u2014 a type of large, flightless parrot found only in New Zealand \u2014 is how rotund they are.<\/p>\n They have endearingly round heads and bodies, owl-like faces and sturdy legs, and they are the biggest of all modern parrots; males measure up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) long and can weigh nearly 9 pounds (4 kilograms). K\u0101k\u0101p\u014d are also one of the longest-lived birds<\/a> in the world, estimated to reach 90 years.<\/p>\n The name “k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d” means “night parrot” in the M\u0101ori language, a reference to the birds’ nocturnal habits. Though k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d cannot fly, they can walk for long distances and are agile climbers, clambering and leaping from trees using their shortened wings for balance.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n When they sense danger, k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d freeze in place, and their mottled emerald-green plumage renders the birds nearly invisible against the leafy forest backdrop. The feathers of the male k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d have a distinctive odor that scientists have described as “sweet and vegetative<\/a>,” and this powerful scent<\/a> may play a role in males’ mating success.<\/p>\n Mating in k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d is also unique, as they are the only parrot species to exhibit a behavior called lekking. Males create a stage of sorts, shaping a shallow bowl-shaped depression in the ground. They then crouch in their bowl and call for females using two different sounds: a series of low-frequency “booms” that sound like a tuba, punctuated by a high-pitched “ching.” Males may boom and ching for eight hours at a stretch, continuing nightly for two or three months.<\/p>\n K\u0101k\u0101p\u014d numbers were severely impacted by humans arriving on New Zealand and nearly went extinct in the 1900s. (Image credit: Imago\u00a0\/ Alamy\u00a0Stock Photo)<\/p>\n However, in the absence of female attention some males have been known to direct their affections elsewhere. In 1990, author Douglas Adams wrote about an unusual encounter with an amorous k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d, describing it in his book “Last Chance to See<\/a>” (Penguin Random House, 1992). The incident took place while Adams was recording a segment for a BBC radio programme<\/a> about endangered species.<\/p>\n “When one of the rangers who was working in an area where k\u0101k\u0101p\u014ds were booming happened to leave his hat on the ground,” Adams wrote, “he came back later to find a k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d attempting to ravish it.”<\/p>\n Scientists who work with k\u0101k\u0101p\u014ds even built a rubber “ejaculation helmet<\/a>” to accommodate a k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d named Sirocco, who was notorious for trying to mate with people’s heads. The helmet had a dimpled surface, suitable for collecting sperm for use in artificial insemination.<\/p>\n Shagged by a rare parrot | Last Chance To See – BBC – YouTube![\"File](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DV8adxbYJYhkGiFheJYSN5.jpg\")
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