First Kakapo chick of the season has hatched in New Zealand – Image: Department of Conservation (DOC)
The first kākāpō parrot chick of the season has hatched in New Zealand. Department of Conservation Operations Manager for the kākāpō breeding project in Aotearoa, Deidre Vercoe, says the first chick is always an exciting moment on the long road to recovery for this critically endangered flightless species.
“These exceptionally rare birds only breed every 2-4 years, so it’s a long time between chicks. However, we have more breeding-age birds than ever before this season, so we’re anticipating many more chicks to come.”
One Kākāpō called Yasmine hatched an egg fostered from another parrot-parent on Valentine’s Day, bringing the total number of kākāpō in New Zealand to 237 – though it won’t be officially added to the population until it fledges.
New Zealand Kakapo – Image: DOC
Deidre says fostering eggs and chicks between different kākāpō mums is one way to improve nest success rates.
“Kākāpō mums typically have the best outcomes when raising a maximum of two chicks. The biological mum has four fertile eggs this season already, while Yasmine, an experienced foster mum, had no fertile eggs.”
Kākāpō, also known as Owl-Parrots, face a range of challenges with low hatching success being a key obstacle. So far this season, 187 eggs have been counted in New Zealand, and 74 of them are fertile. Of those, not all will hatch, and not all chicks will survive through to fledging.
“The kākāpō population was once down to just 51 birds which created a genetic bottleneck we are still managing today,” says Deidre.
NAN/DOC 16-2-26
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