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It is one of the most colourful birds in the world
and yet, despite its showy plumage, the kakapo parrot shows a reluctance
to mate that has seen their numbers plummet to just 124.
But amazingly one of the birds, which cannot fly and live under the
cover of trees, was photographed from just a yard away on a compact
camera.
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The snap, taken in New Zealand by Shane McInnes, is among the winning
entries in an international competition to secure images of the 566 most
threatened birds on Earth.
‘Very few people have been fortunate to get that close to a Kakapo,’
said Andy Swash, of the World's Rarest Project team, which sends patient
photographers to remote spots across the world.
‘You can't just go out into your back garden and get these shots. These
birds live in really remote locations.
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‘Once you have got there you often have to spend hours waiting to see
these and getting any image, let alone the one you want, could take
weeks or months.’
Fortunately, in the Kakapo’s case, they are not worried by humans and
not particularly wary of predators, ‘so Shane has ended up was able to
take this fantastic shot,’ Mr Swash added.
Other photographers have a much harder job.
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The Kakapo is a large, rotund parrot; the male measures up to 60
centimetres (24 in) and weighs between 2 and 4 kilograms (4.5–9 lb) at
maturity. The Kakapo cannot fly, having short wings for its size and
lacking the pronounced keel bone (sternum) that anchors the flight
muscles of other birds.
It uses its wings for balance, support, and to break its fall when
leaping from trees. Unlike other land birds, the Kakapo can accumulate
large amounts of body fat to store energy, making it the heaviest
parrot.
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The Kakapo was originally described by English ornithologist George
Robert Gray in 1845.
The Kakapo, Strigops habroptila (Gray, 1845), also called owl parrot, is
a species of large, flightless nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand.
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