{"id":242706,"date":"2026-01-13T18:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T18:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/242706\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T18:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T18:36:07","slug":"berry-nice-to-meet-you-bumper-fruit-crop-could-lead-to-huge-mating-season-for-nzs-endangered-kakapo-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/242706\/","title":{"rendered":"Berry nice to meet you: bumper fruit crop could lead to huge mating season for NZ\u2019s endangered k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d | New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been four long years, but the world\u2019s heaviest parrots, the k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d<\/a>, are finally about to get it on again. The mass fruiting of a native New Zealand tree has triggered breeding season \u2013 a rare event conservationists hope will lead to a record number of chicks for the critically endangered bird.<\/p>\n

K\u0101k\u0101p\u014d, the world\u2019s only nocturnal and flightless parrot, were once abundant across New Zealand<\/a>. But their population plummeted after the introduction of predators such as cats and stoats, and by the 1900s they were nearly extinct.<\/p>\n

A recovery programme established in 1995 rebuilt the population from 51 to 236 birds, including 83 breeding-age females.<\/p>\n

K\u0101k\u0101p\u014d breed only every two to four years when the native rimu trees \u201cmast\u201d and produce large numbers of berries, so repopulation is slow.<\/p>\n

This year a \u201cmega-mast\u201d is expected, resulting in a bountiful harvest of rimu berries, which could prompt the birds to produce more eggs.<\/p>\n

The rimu tree produces berries that provide enough nutrition for the birds to raise chicks. Photograph: Nature Picture Library\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Deidre Vercoe, the Department of Conservation\u2019s operations manager for k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d recovery, said it was an exciting moment for her team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a really big rimu crop developing on the trees and the birds haven\u2019t bred for four years so we\u2019re hoping that they will all get into the action this summer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

K\u0101k\u0101p\u014d are thought to live between 60-80 years, can weigh up to 4kgs and are famously entertaining<\/a>. Their mating rituals are \u201ccrazy\u201d, Vercoe said.<\/p>\n

Male birds gather in a \u201clek\u201d to produce a distinctive booming sound, emitted from air sacs in their chests while sitting in a dug-out bowl in the ground. The deep boom, which can travel up to 5km, sounds similar to a softly plucked cello string.<\/p>\n

After choosing a partner and mating, females typically lay one to four eggs. The females become solely responsible for their eggs and hatched chicks for roughly six months.<\/p>\n

Vercoe said it was a mystery how k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d know when rimu are likely to mast, or why they rely on that particular tree. But the fruit is nutritious and, when plentiful, provides enough food for the birds to raise two to three chicks.<\/p>\n

K\u0101k\u0101p\u014d are extremely good climbers and can easily scale the 20-30 metre high rimu to access berries, she said. \u201cThey are doing that over and over all night long for months \u2013 it\u2019s really hard work, and quite amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous breeding seasons have on average led to the production of one chick per breeding female, and each season brings new challenges. This year, a higher number of younger females are ready to breed but they may not be as successful as older birds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never like to count our chickens before they hatch, but we\u2019re really hopeful that the majority of the females breed and we will get some good numbers of chicks through.\u201d<\/p>\n

A rare k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d parrot and chick pictured on Codfish Island, an offshore sanctuary situated off New Zealand\u2019s South Island. Photograph: Don Merton\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

There are three k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d breeding populations, all based on predator-free islands near the bottom of the South Island \u2013 one near Rakiura \/ Stewart Island, and two near Fiordland national park.<\/p>\n

As the population steadily grows, so too does the issue of where to put the birds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are actually running out of space for k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d and predator-free, good-quality habitat,\u201d Vercoe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting turning point for the programme \u2013 how do we keep growing the population, but how do we take steps back and where do we put them?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge for New Zealand to grapple with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been four long years, but the world\u2019s heaviest parrots, the k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d, are finally about to get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,82,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-242706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}