Have you been watching the #kakapo webcam? After a few power issues it’s back online. I’ll be at the nest in about an hour from now, so tune in then if you’re free! www.youtube.com/live/K_j3aaE...
An adult female kākāpō feeding a chick in a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby
#kakapo Esperance with chick Elsie-A2-2026 on Whenua Hou. At a month old the chicks start to get coloured feathers and males will weigh around 1kg - not far off the mother's weight. But she's still less than halfway through raising them in the nest! #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds #wildlife
Totals of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season on the fridge door on Whenua Hou. Credit: Andrew Digby
#kakapo breeding fridge update. With all eggs hatched, the only changes from now will be chicks dying 😕 (And maybe Rimu’s nest). #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds
The youngest #kakapo alive: Awarua-A3, 17 days old today. Despite appearances, she’s doing well. She won’t be leaving the nest until mid-June. It’s a long breeding season! #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds.
A kākāpō chick at a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby
There are currently 94 #kakapo chicks alive, with 59 on Anchor, 22 on Whenua Hou, at least 10 on Te Kākahu and 3 in hospital. We lost a chick to a freak flooding of a nest earlier this week on Anchor. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds
A kākāpō chick in a bag during a health check. Credit: Sarah Manktelow.
Last week we transferred 4 #kakapo chicks from Whenua Hou to Anchor Island; having moved 5 in March. With a better food supply on Anchor the mothers there can support two chicks per nest better than on Whenua Hou, where the rimu fruit has failed to ripen. 📸 Sarah Manktelow #kakapo2026 #conservation
It is hard to guess, and there’s always the risk of disease causing high mortality. But since 2016, hatch to fledge survival has ranged from 70 - 90%. We’re currently at 90%, so expect we’ll be around the lower end of that range, if not lower. 🤞🏻
A female kakapo on a nest facing the camera, with a young chick in front of her. Credit: Andrew Digby
This year's #kakapo breeding season has been the biggest on record:
- 256 eggs (252 in 2019)
- 148 fertile eggs (116 in 2019)
- 105 eggs hatched (86 in 2019).
It'll be 2+ months until we know how many chicks will fledge (73 in 2019). There are currently 95 alive. #conservation #kakapo2026 #birds
Two week-old kākāpō chicks in a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby
Two scraps of cotton wool. #kakapo chicks Pakiki-A3-2026 and Wendy-A1-2026 in Wendy's nest on Anchor Island. These are two of the youngest kākāpō chicks from this year. The oldest is about 6 weeks older and ~15 times heavier! #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds #wildlife
For those not following the #kakapo nest cam: a new chick (Heather-A3) has been added to Rakiura’s nest tonight. We’re testing whether she can cope with two (bigger) mouths to feed again. #kakapo2026 #conservation
www.youtube.com/live/LDSWtyU...
You won't find many kākāpō Easter eggs in the latest episode of the, Kākāpō Files ... because they've all hatched!
And by every measure, this is now officially the biggest breeding season on record.
#kakapo #conservation #birds
www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/kaka...
The youngest #kakapo chick on Pukenui/Anchor Island: Hanariki-A2, at 3 days old. It's a tiny 42g, but doing OK. Managed to keep it mostly dry on a very wet night. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds
#kakapo chicks Ongaonga-A2 and A3 on Pukenui during a health check. These chicks are “chalk” priority, meaning that they only get checked a few times before fledging (~75 days). They’re doing well. #kakapo2026 #conservation #wildlife
Ripe rimu fruit on a tree. Credit: Andrew Digby
Lots of ripe rimu fruit appearing on the trees on Pukenui/Anchor. This is the food driving the current biggest #kakapo breeding season on record: ripe fruit is the main diet of kākāpō chicks, and a record rimu crop is the reason why the chicks are growing well. #conservation #kakapo2026 #birds
A kākāpō chick being weighed in a small bag. Credit: Andrew Digby
#kakapo chick Hananui-A3 being weighed during a health check at Verity's nest on Pukenui/Anchor Island. We weigh chicks to assess health condition, and compare against the mean expected for its age. At 9 days old and 120g, this chick is tracking well. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds
A 4 week old chick asleep on a person's lap during a health check. Credit: Andrew Digby
#kakapo chicks tire out easily! Aparima-A2 asleep on me during a health check. With adult feathers beginning to emerge and putting on up to ~20% of his body weight per day, he's got a lot going on! #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds #parrots
Two newly-hatched kākāpō chicks at a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby
Two three-week old kākāpō chicks at a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby
Amazing what difference 19 days can make in the life of a #kakapo chick. Last night we checked Konini's nest for the first time in 3 weeks and the chicks are growing fast. We're checking nests less often this year to reduce the intensity of our #conservation management. #kakapo2026
A three-week old kakapo chick at a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby
At ~3 weeks old, #kakapo chicks start to get a bit more mobile and move around the nest. As they get older, we check them less often - especially if their growth curve is good. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds #wildlife
A white board showing totals of kākāpō breeding. Credit: Andrew Digby
A kākāpō chick in a person’s hand. Credit: Andrew Digby
100 #kakapo chicks?! They won’t all survive and the season’s tally will end up quite a lot less than that, but that’s our current guess at how many have hatched so far. #kakapo #conservation #wildlife
#kakapo chick Gale-A3-2026 during a health check at Gale's nest on Pukenui/Anchor Island. A week old, it's growing fast, putting on about 25% of its body weight per day. Tracking chicks' weight is one of our key measures of health assessment. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds
A first glimpse of #kakapo chick Whetu-A3, about a day old and unreachable in Whetu’s nest in a hollow rata tree. In the last week about 16 chicks have hatched on Pukenui and Whenua Hou. #kakapo2026 #conservation #wildlife #birds
Please share far & wide - the bestest, most heart warming thing you’ll see all day. Kakapo-Cam - watch one of the fattest, greenest, least able to fly, most endangered parrots in the world care for her young.
Thnx @digs.bsky.social #kakapo #wildlife 🧪🧪
www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...
Transferring 5 #kakapo chicks from Whenua Hou to Anchor this week means that some more two-chick nests were created. With a more reliable food supply, most chicks on Anchor are growing fast - like these in Hine Taumai’s nest. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots #birds
A Kākāpō chick In a transfer box on the forest floor. Credit: Andrew Digby
Earlier this week we transferred five #kakapo chicks from Whenua Hou to Anchor, where there’s a better natural food supply. We managed to move the chicks into their new nests during the day. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds
A Kākāpō chick being weighed in a bag. Credit: Andrew Digby
A Kākāpō chick being held during a health check. Credit: Andrew Digby
A health check for #kakapo chick Tiwhiri-A3 two nights ago. This is a genetically valuable (rank = gold) chick, so it gets more frequent health checks. It’s doing well. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots
Wow Carl! I thought you weren’t in Aotearoa for that long, but your photos put many of us who live here to shame! Congrats on some beautiful shots.
Good question. We couldn’t have done most of our work if they weren’t so tolerant. Fostering eggs and chicks had likely doubled the population.
A graph of the weight of two kākāpō chicks. Credit: Andrew Digby
Two fortnight old kākāpō chicks in a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby
One of the main measures we use to assess the health of #kakapo chicks is their weight. Tiwhiri-A3 and Tiwhiri-A4 are well above the mean expected for their age, so mother Tiwhiri is doing a great job feeding two chicks. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots
You know that feeling when you're struggling to stay awake? #kakapo chicks Tiwhiri-A3 and Tiwhiri-A4 in Tiwhiri's nest on Pukenui/Anchor Island. Both around two weeks old, and doing well. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots
A female Kākāpō on a nest with a young chick. Credit: Andrew Digby
Eva at her nest tonight on a very wet Pukenui/Anchor Island. Her chick Evohe-A2 is doing ok and her foster egg underneath her is about to hatch. #kakapo #conservation #kakapo2026 #birds
