Bird of the year: where to see kākāpō in New Zealand

The nocturnal green parrot has been named New Zealand’s 2020 Bird of the Year. Kākāpō is the only bird that has been voted twice as the nation’s most beloved bird.

So how did a bird with only 200 living specimens win the hearts of New Zealanders?

The kākāpō’s appeal is part “charisma” and part “an intense story of survival,” says Bronwyn Jeynes, a ranger with the DOC’s Kākāpō recovery team.

In the 1860s, Fiordland surveyor Charlie Douglas described the birds as being so crowded “that a tree could be shaken and the kākāpō would fall like apples.” However, the birds have plummeted from abundance to a known population of less than 50, around 1990.

Slow, nests on the ground and not quite elegant; the things that made kākāpō so unique have also been its downfall with the arrival of invading predators.

While there are no additional funds or resources attached to the annual bird of the year award, it does help put the species on the minds of the public.

However, despite their affection for the kākāpō, there are surprisingly few places where you can see them. Having been saved from the brink of extinction, they are still alarmingly rare.

High-profile conservation mascots like Sirocco helped capture the public’s imagination. Sirocco, the ‘defense parrot’, is a regular tweeter and has a quarter of a million followers on Facebook.

Rose to fame after a string of high-profile television appearances, including meeting actor Stephen Fry. The encounter that left its mark on the comedian and his camera crew can be seen in the BBC video: “Fucked by a rare parrot.”

Today, parrots only exist on a handful of sanctuary islands, under close supervision. These are mainly found near Stewart Island, Fiordland, and Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

“Sirocco’s public tours are some of the few times that the public actually meets Kakapo,” says Jeynes. “We had been planning a trip for him this year, but Covid changed our plans.”

However, once every few years there are opportunities for the public to see birds in their natural habitat. This coincides with the breeding season.

Each breeding season, DOC brings teams of about 200 civilian volunteers to assist with mass breeding programs at predator-free sanctuaries.

“The number of volunteers we take depends on the size of the breeding season,” says Jeynes.

The hours are long and the work heavy, but you may be rewarded with meeting a kākāpō in person. There are usually two roles that are offered to volunteers, either feeding the kakapo or feeding the volunteers.

“We have a lot of people managing the nests and working with the breeding programs working around the clock, because the Kakapo are nocturnal, so we have to have a volunteer cook to make sure everyone has a full stomach.”

However, don’t expect to volunteer anytime soon. The kākāpō are notoriously slow breeders: they have a clutch of eggs every 2 to 4 years. This coincides with the fruiting of the rimu trees.

You may have to wait until at least 2022.

“It’s kind of ironic that they’ve won it in a year that they haven’t bred,” says Andrew Digby, the program’s DOC scientific advisor. Last year, the birds celebrated one of the largest and most successful breeding years to date, despite a fungal disease threatening the program.

“Giving the public the opportunity to see kākāpō is one of our challenges: we need people to see them so that they know and care about them, but it is difficult when there are so few and they are on nearby islands,” says Digby.

Sirocco’s public residences at places like Dunedin’s Orokonui Ecosanctuary or displays of hand-raised chicks during breeding seasons.

“Every time these events occur, a few thousand people can see kākāpō.”
For more information and future opportunities, visit doc.govt.nz/sirocco

Top 10 winners with instant second round preferential voting applied:
1. blind
2. Bull albatross / antipodes
3. Kakaruia / robin
4. Kārearea / New Zealand Falcon
5. Pigeons
6. Banded pohowera / dotterel
7. Fight
8. Ruru / morepork
9. Whio / blue duck
10. Pīwakawaka / fantai

For more New Zealand travel ideas and inspiration, visit newzealand.com