Kakapo, New Zealand’s fattest parrot is 2020’s bird

Each nation has its own rivalry, be it beauty, music, books or animals, capable of attracting the attention of the whole country. In New Zealand, the bird of the year selection is unrivaled, and the green and yellow kakapo, the fattest and longest-lived parrot in the world, won the prestigious title. This is the second time this endangered specimen has won the coveted prize, it has already triumphed in 2008. Also known as the “Great Moss Chicken” it is a huge musk chicken, the name due to its size, is vulnerable to surrounding dangers because it cannot fly. As a form of defense hiding during the day.

Kakapo and the danger of extinction

Since settling on predator-free islands, it has managed to reverse course and has gone from 50 live birds in the 1990s to 213 today. Males make a loud thumping sound to attract females and emit a strange smell “like inside a clarinet case, rotting, a bit like resin and wood,” said 15-year-old competition spokeswoman Laura Keown. Awareness of New Zealand’s bird fauna, a large part of which is in danger of extinction. “The things that make kakapo unique also make them vulnerable to threats. They are slow breeders, nesting on the ground and their main defense is shrub mimicry — he added — these traits worked great on the bird island where they evolved, but they don’t fool predators like stoats, rats, and cats.”