The Parrot Nobody Warned About Predators

There's a wildlife cameraman named Mark Carwardine — he was filming a BBC documentary about rare animals when a kakapo named Sirocco climbed onto his head and tried to mate with him, live on camera. The clip went viral worldwide. And honestly, it might be the most accurate portrait of this bird you could ask for.

The kakapo is the heaviest parrot on Earth. Males top out around four kilograms, standing about sixty centimeters tall. It does have wings — but they've become purely decorative. The most they're good for is gliding down from a tree, spread out like a cape. On the ground, though, it moves fast, scurrying around almost like a small green piglet.

New Zealand's evolution never produced ground predators — so the kakapo never learned to worry. It isn't afraid of people. It smells sweet, like honey and flowers mixed together, which means a predator can simply follow its scent. And when danger comes, it freezes instead of running. The Maori could pick them up by hand at night. European sailors loaded them onto ships as a living meat supply. By the mid-twentieth century, the species had nearly vanished.

By nineteen ninety-five, only forty-nine kakapo were left alive. All of them were flown by helicopter to islands cleared of predators. Today there are about two hundred and thirty, and every single one has a name, a radio tracker, and its own medical file. Ornithologists carry out artificial insemination, matching genetically suitable males. Every chick that hatches is treated as a national event in New Zealand.

The kakapo only breeds when the rimu — a native conifer — has a bumper seed year, something that happens just once every few years. The entire country waits for the forest to decide the time is right.

It might be the only species on the planet whose survival depends on a tree's calendar.

What should we tell you about? Your own street would do. moygid dot online.