Aug 12, 2026 · 17 min · 10 segments
For our first mini of Nature Camp, we're headed into the wilds of New Zealand, where a handful of very special birds make their homes. Learn why the Kākāpō has stolen our hearts with their tale of…
Okay, so the kakapo.
Its name is a combination of the Maori words for parrot, kaka, and knight, po, making them the knight
parrot.
That sounds almost too badass.
Yeah.
Yes.
Well, it does.
Well, it does sound like, you know, an A grade superhero.
Right.
We're actually talking about the world's biggest flightless parrot with mating habits that make pandas look like rabbits.
They are nocturnal, though, so the night part is correct, and they are parrots.
It's just, you wouldn't see them in a spandex suit.
No.
They do not strike me as the crime-fighting type.
No.
So like I said, Kakapo are large, flightless, forest-dwelling parrots that have pale, owl-like faces.
They're moss green, modeled with yellow and black on top, and then a more yellowy undercarriage with gray bills and feet.
Hmm.
And they are large, and I mean larger than you'd expect for a bird that looks like that, but not like pelican big.
So they're big for a parrot.
So adults can measure from 23 to 25 inches with a wingspan of 32 inches, and males are significantly heavier than females with an average weight of 4.5 pounds for males, 2 pounds for females, but they can get up to 8 pounds if they are particularly chonky prints.
That is a big bird.
Yes, that is.
It's a heavy bird.
They are the heaviest living species of parrot and on average outweigh the largest flying parrot, the hyacinth macaw, by a pound.
Okay, so the kakapo.
Its name is a combination of the Maori words for parrot, kaka, and knight, po, making them the knight
parrot.
That sounds almost too badass.
Yeah.
Yes.
Well, it does.
Well, it does sound like, you know, an A grade superhero.
Right.
We're actually talking about the world's biggest flightless parrot with mating habits that make pandas look like rabbits.
They are nocturnal, though, so the night part is correct, and they are parrots.
It's just, you wouldn't see them in a spandex suit.
No.
They do not strike me as the crime-fighting type.
No.
So like I said, Kakapo are large, flightless, forest-dwelling parrots that have pale, owl-like faces.
They're moss green, modeled with yellow and black on top, and then a more yellowy undercarriage with gray bills and feet.
Hmm.
And they are large, and I mean larger than you'd expect for a bird that looks like that, but not like pelican big.
So they're big for a parrot.
So adults can measure from 23 to 25 inches with a wingspan of 32 inches, and males are significantly heavier than females with an average weight of 4.5 pounds for males, 2 pounds for females, but they can get up to 8 pounds if they are particularly chonky prints.
That is a big bird.
Yes, that is.
It's a heavy bird.
They are the heaviest living species of parrot and on average outweigh the largest flying parrot, the hyacinth macaw, by a pound.
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