Conservation group Forest and Bird announced the kakapo of New Zealand has announced the world’s heaviest, longest-living, and only flightless and nocturnal parrot as the bird of the year. “New Zealand’s mighty moss chicken can add yet another feather to its cap,” poll organizer Laura Keown said. The critically endangered green parrot is the subject of major conservation efforts in New Zealand. These birds were literally brought back from the brink of extinction.
There were only 50 birds in the 1990s and they’ve been saved by intensive conservation efforts. Today there is 213 kakapo. The things that make kakapo unique also make them vulnerable to threats. They are slow breeders, they nest on the ground and their main defense is to imitate a shrub. Those qualities worked great on the island of birds the kakapo evolved in but they don’t fool introduced predators like stoats, rats, and cats. Each year, the competition attracts New Zealanders who run social media campaigns in support of their favorite feathered friends.
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