Kākāpō Files II

DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme says that the 2026 kākāpō breeding season is officially the biggest on record, and that all chicks have now hatched. At least 256 eggs were laid in 80 nests, of which at least 106 hatched. There are currently 99 chicks alive, three of which are being treated at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital for various health problems. The oldest chick, Tīwhiri-A1-2026, is 46-days old and weighs 1.8 kg, while the youngest chick, Awarua-A3-2026, weighs 26 grams at 2-days old. Operations manager Deidre Vercoe says that preliminary sexing results show that about 40 percent of the chicks are female, and that rangers are starting to give the older chicks a permanent microchip for identification.Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz.In this episode:00:00 – Introduction01:16 – Deidre Vercoe with final nest and egg numbers05:41 – Final chick hatching numbers11:09 – Planning ahead13:45 – Dunedin Wildlife Hospital vet Dr Lisa Argilla20:32 – Rimu fruiting & its role in breeding27.30 – Supplementary feeding on Whenua Hou32:10 - Closing credits…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The number of kākāpō chicks has climbed to 54, with plenty more fertile eggs still to hatch on Whenua Hou and Pukenui/Anchor Island. Remote monitoring technology shows that seven kākāpō mums on Te Kakahu/Chalky Island are likely raising chicks as well. DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme is using a genetic ranking system to prioritise how much management attention each chick receives – Kākāpō Cam star Rakiura, for instance, is foster mum to a silver chick and also a gold chick. The oldest chick, Tiwhiri-A1, is ranked gold and a ground-breaking new portable PCR that allows rapid sex-testing of chicks on the islands has shown that he is a male.Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nzIn this episode:00:00 – Introduction01:00 - Maddy Whittaker with egg and chick updates03:50 – Males are stopping booming08:00 – Rimu fruit ripening08:40 – Chick and hatching deaths09:30 – Updates on Alison, Queenie & Cyndy, & Tiwhiri-A114:46 - Andrew Digby on genetic ranking system for chicks21:20 – Sex-testing chicks using PCR25:25 – Alyssa Salton with kākāpō egg 10129:58 - Closing credits…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

The first chick of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season has successfully hatched on Pukenui/Anchor Island. DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme reports that Tiwhiri-A1-2026 hatched in foster mother Yasmine’s nest on 14 February 2026 and is the first kākāpō chick in four years. Huhū-A1-2026 is due to hatch on Whenua Hou imminently. Sixty-two kākāpō nests have been found so far and the egg tally is nearly 200, of which 78 are known to be fertile. More eggs are expected. Alison Ballance visits Whenua Hou, meets some of the kākāpō rangers and reports on the technology that enables the Kākāpō Team to conduct 24-hour surveillance on each bird.Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz.In this episode:00:00 – Introduction00:50 - First chick hatches04:28 – Nest and egg updates06:26 – Kākāpō technology07:26 – Nest tech11:22 - The train station13:32 - Nest controller16:09 - Morning updates18:28 - Closing credits…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

More than three-quarters of female kākāpō of breeding age have mated so far, and the number of nests is growing rapidly. Kākāpō operations manager Deidre Vercoe tells Alison Ballance that 101 eggs have been laid to date, and while it is early days 38 eggs are known to be fertile. As always, infertile eggs are a major problem, although science advisor Andrew Digby explains that recent research shows that many eggs are in fact fertilised but die in the first day or two. And Deidre says that the Kākāpō Recovery Programme takes threats such as the fungal disease aspergillosis, failure of the rimu fruit to ripen and the possible arrival of highly pathogenic bird flu in New Zealand very seriously.Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz.In this episode:00:00 – Introduction00:57 – Mating update03.28 – Nesting update and 101 eggs09:13 – Bird of the Week: Kākāpō Cam star Rakiura10:34 – Egg infertility12:12 – Threats including aspergillosis and bird flu14:15 - Closing credits…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

There have been 24 kākāpō matings so far, and the number is increasing as mating action heats up on all three breeding islands. Deidre Vercoe, from the Kākāpō Recovery Programme, tells Alison Ballance that some 7-year-old birds from the 2019 breeding season have mated for the first time. The first female to mate this season, Pearl, has laid infertile eggs, but nightly activity monitoring shows that three more females have started nesting. Technical Advisor Daryl Eason talks about the under-achievers, founder kākāpō that either haven’t bred at all or have produced only a few chicks.Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nzIn this episode:00:00 – Introduction00:51 – Mating updates03:06 - Nesting updates06:27 - Artificial insemination progress10:40 - Male under-achievers14:09 - Female under-achievers15:26 - Closing creditsLearn more:Follow the Kākāpō Files podcast to keep up to date.Listen to the Voice of the Kākāpō series for a recap of the 2019 breeding season. Also listen to the episodes covering the interim 2022 breeding season, and about how a few male kākāpō have fared in the North Island, in the fenced Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.For more New Zealand science and nature find and follow the Our Changing World podcast, and subscribe to the show’s monthly newsletter.Guests:Andrew Digby, Science Advisor, Kākāpō Recovery ProgrammeDaryl Eason, Technical Advisor, Kākāpō Recovery ProgrammeKākāpō Files is made in collaboration with the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

It’s the New Year and we’re in the early days of a big kākāpō breeding season. Daryl Eason from the Kākāpō Team tells Alison Ballance that Esperance and Ian are the second kākāpō to mate, and he expects that any minute now there will be plenty more birds mating. The kākāpō population drops to 236 birds. Science advisor Andrew Digby explains why every living kākāpō has had its genome sequenced, and what genes can reveal – including why some kākāpō have olive feathers and others are bright green. And we meet over-achievers Flossie and Blades.Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nzIn this episode:00:00 – Introduction00:38 – Daryl Eason with news of the second mating of the season, what Pearl is up to and a death05:10 – Andrew Digby talks genomes and feather colour12:10 – Super breeders Flossie and Blades14:08 - Closing creditsLearn more:Follow the Kākāpō Files podcast to keep up to date.Listen to the Voice of the Kākāpō series for a recap of the 2019 breeding season. Also listen to the episodes covering the interim 2022 breeding season, and about how a few male kākāpō have fared in the North Island, in the fenced Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.For more New Zealand science and nature find and follow the Our Changing World podcast, and subscribe to the show’s monthly newsletter.Guests:Andrew Digby, Science Advisor, Kākāpō Recovery ProgrammeDaryl Eason, Technical Advisor, Kākāpō Recovery ProgrammeKākāpō Files is made in collaboration with the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

It’s the summer solstice and we are waiting for kākāpō breeding to begin. Alison Ballance chats with island ranger Maddy Whittaker, who reports that on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island all the male kākāpō are in full voice, booming all night to attract the females, who haven’t shown any interest yet. The action hasn’t yet ramped up on Anchor Island. Alison also meets three key people from the Kākāpō Team, and hears about their first-ever kākāpō encounters.Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nzIn this episode:00:00 – Introduction00:42 – Kākāpō ranger Maddy Whittaker with updates on what the male birds are up to on the islands05:09 – Technical Officer Daryl Eason talks about his first kākāpō encounter and what makes these birds so unique09:41 – Operations Manager of the Kākāpō Recovery Programme Deidre Vercoe remembers her first kākāpō meeting13:44 – Science Advisor Andrew Digby talks about meeting his first kākāpō16:00 – Daryl Eason predicts when the breeding season might begin…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In 2019 Alison Ballance followed the bumpy, rollercoaster ride that was the kākāpō breeding season. Now she returns, six years on, to do it all over again. We'll meet familiar characters, of both the human and bird kind, as well as new faces. Will the chicks born in 2019 start to breed? How will the team fare with a more hands-off approach? Will the deadly aspergillosis that surfaced in 2019 return? And with the rimu mast predicted to be big, could this be the most successful breeding season yet? First episode drops 16th December. Don't miss it. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In July 2023 four male kākāpō were released into the fenced Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari – part of a new habitat trial to investigate suitable locations for the growing kākāpō population. But after a further six were introduced, the kākāpō began to wander – beyond the fence. A year on, and several escapes later, what’s been learned? And what’s next for kākāpō in Maungatautari? There are plenty of night-time wanderers in New Zealand that you might expect to come across driving on back roads – rats, mice, a seemingly endless number of possums.But it’s not often that you round a corner to come face to face with a kākāpō.Elwin’s escapadeThis was the surprising sight that faced Tyler James Lindsay very early one morning in January 2024.A Cambridge local, Tyler was driving a milk tanker along Scott Road, northeast of Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, when suddenly he saw before him a strange shape.“Just a big green bird. Just in the middle of the road looking straight at my lights, I think it was rather confused,” he says.Luckily, Tyler is into native birds, so he was aware that kākāpō had been introduced to the fenced sanctuary six months earlier. He knew exactly what he was looking at.The next day, Tyler’s report made its way to Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari kākāpō ranger Dan Howie, who quickly began the search for the elusive Elwin.“Such an incredible interaction that he saw this bird out there – in the middle of the road no less – which is absolutely terrifying as kākāpō ranger,” says Dan.But this was not the first time, nor the last, that Dan would feel that fear.The habitat trialKākāpō numbers are growing. In 1995 there were just 51 kākāpō and the threat of losing them forever was all too real.A decade ago, around the time that Dr Andrew Digby joined the Kākāpō Recovery team, there were just over 120 kākāpō. Today there are 247.Intensive management and three quite successful breeding seasons have enabled this doubling of kākāpō numbers in the last 10 years. Initially, the challenge was to save the charismatic, flightless parrots from extinction. Now, the team also has an added challenge: where to put them.To date, the majority of kākāpō have lived on offshore predator-free islands in the rohe of Ngāi Tahu – Whenua Hou / Codfish Island next to Rakiura / Stewart Island, and Pukenui / Anchor Island in Fiordland. But these islands are getting full…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Alison Ballance joins the kākāpō recovery team on Pukenui Anchor Island to hear how the 2021/2022 kākāpō breeding season is going.It's been very quiet on the kākāpō front for the last two years, but this year is another big one for the rare bird.In 2019, the endangered flightless night parrot had its largest breeding season on record, as recounted in the RNZ podcast series the Kākāpō Files and Voice of the Kākāpō. After a rollercoaster ride of successes and setbacks, 72 chicks fledged, temporarily boosting the kākāpō population to 213 birds.Since then, there has been a slow attrition due to deaths of both old and young birds, which saw this breeding season kick off with 201 birds.Most importantly, this number included 57 females of breeding age, which are spread across three southern kākāpō islands: Pukenui-Anchor Island (in Fiordland), Te Kakahu-Chalky Island (also in Fiordland) and Whenua Hou-Codfish Island (near Stewart Island). Forty six of those females have bred this year, laying a grand total of 139 eggs.By autumn, 57 chicks out of the 60 that hatched were doing well, most of them being raised by their mothers or foster mothers. In previous breeding seasons many chicks have been hand-reared, but Deidre Vercoe, manager of DOC's Kākāpō Recovery Programme, says that this year the team was taking a more hands-off approach. This meant no double clutching, and most eggs were left to hatch in nests rather than in incubators.There is now a much greater reliance on technology to allow remote monitoring, with every bird wearing a smart radio transmitter that sends information about the wearer to a centralised computer database. Te Kakahu-Chalky island is the most hands-off breeding island, and indications from activity records being sent remotely from the three nesting mothers suggests they are still raising the island's three chicks.Aspergillosis outbreakUnfortunately, the onset of autumn marked a bit of a turning point in the breeding season. After a period of hot dry weather in Fiordland, the female Jemma, on Pukenui Island, died from aspergillosis. This fungal disease can be deadly, with nine kākāpō dying from it in the 2019 breeding season, although a number of other kākāpō were successfully treated.A second Pukenui female, Roha, has since been diagnosed with severe aspergillosis and is fighting for her life at Auckland Zoo. Some chicks are at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital being treated for aspergillosis as well as injuries such as broken legs…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Paternity testing has revealed who the top kākāpō dads are, as well as the success of the artificial insemination programme, in episode 22 of the Kākāpō Files.Artificial insemination (AI) of kākāpō has succeeded for the first time in a decade, and the Kākāpō Recovery Team at the Department of Conservation is very happy with the results.Paternity testing has revealed that five eggs were successfully fertilised with inseminated sperm from three males, although two eggs died as early embryos and one chick died at just a few days old.There are two surviving AI chicks, one of which is fathered by Sinbad, a male containing rare Fiordland genes which contribute important genetic diversity to a threatened species that has low genetic diversity overall.Paternity testing has also revealed that two young males are star performers in what has been a record-breaking breeding season: Komaru and Horton have each fathered ten chicks.Seven months after the largest kākāpō breeding season on record got off to a racing start, we finally have an answer to an outstanding question: who some of the kākāpō dads are.Many female kākāpō mate with two and even three males, and in these cases genetic testing has to be used to determine who has fathered the chicks. It is also necessary to use genetic testing to determine fatherhood in the case of females who were inseminated with donor sperm after they had mated naturally.The paternity testing is carried out by Agresearch using a process called genotyping by sequencing, drawing on genetic markers developed for kākāpō by Professor Bruce Robertson at the University of Otago.Artificial insemination resultsThe kākāpō team, with help from German experts from the University of Giesen, carried out 15 artificial inseminations on 13 different females, and succeeded with three females.Nora was successfully inseminated with Sinbad's sperm and two of her three fertile eggs were fathered by him (her third egg was fathered by Tutuko in a natural mating). Nora-1-B unfortunately died a few days after hatching. Nora 3-B is still alive but he is currently being treated for an aspergillosis infection.Cyndy was successfully fertilised with sperm from founder male Merv, but the two fertile eggs died when they were about eight days old.Margaret-Maree has an AI male chick fathered by Stumpy.More interesting AI resultsAs well as revealing who the father is in cases of multiple matings, paternity testing has revealed some unusual results.Tumeke mated with both Te Atapo and Boss, and for the first time ever in a natural clutch the chicks have mixed parentage: one chick was fathered by Boss and three by Te Atapo…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details