3…2…1, Boom!
Counting down to the kākāpō breeding season
After a four-year wait, the Kākāpō Recovery team is thrilled that breeding will return in 2026. Together with our Treaty Partner Ngāi Tahu and National Partner Meridian Energy, we’re preparing for what could be the biggest boom in kākāpō chicks yet!
Kākāpō advocacy lead Andie Gentle breaks down the excitement, the science, the challenges, and how the measures of success for the recovery of this taonga species are changing.
Why all the hype?
Admittedly, we always get super excited about breeding seasons – and for good reason.
Kākāpō are a taonga species to Ngāi Tahu, the principal Māori iwi of southern New Zealand. The world’s only, flightless, nocturnal parrot is critically endangered with just 242 alive today. The breeding populations are only found on three very remote, rugged predator-free islands in the deep south of Aotearoa New Zealand; Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, Pukenui/Anchor Island and Te Kāhaku/Chalky Island.
We estimate kākāpō can live between 60-90 years. Most don’t successfully breed until their teens (males) or tweens (females). Even then, they only breed when rimu trees mast (mass fruit) once every 2-4 years. Female kākāpō, who feed their chicks rimu fruit, lay between 1-5 eggs but will usually fledge one chick per season.
Once widespread across the country, kākāpō populations plummeted after humans arrived due to hunting, habitat loss, and introduced predators. Since 1995, we’ve worked to rebuild the population from just 51 birds – 31 males, 20 females; and we’ve supported them through 12 breeding seasons, reaching a top population in 2022 of 252.
Many of the earlier seasons produced fewer than a handful of chicks, but as the population has slowly grown, breeding seasons have grown too! In terms of numbers, 2019 has been our biggest breeding season yet, with management initiatives helping produce a record 73 fledglings.
So yes, we do get hyped – because the mahi is intensive and every chick is so precious!
The art of prediction
Using summer temperature patterns, we can predict rimu mast events (and therefore breeding seasons) up to two years in advance. Closer to the season, we collect sample rimu branches from the islands and count the tips to estimate fruiting levels.
Images 2 & 3: rimu fruit | DOC.
We know some kākāpō will breed if more than 10 percent of rimu tips bear fruit and that a greater number of kākāpō breed as the percentage of fruit increases.
The latest data for 2026 shows record-high predictions of around 50–60 percent fruiting across all three breeding islands. If this happens there could be potential for nearly all of the 87 breeding-age females to nest in 2026.
What the lek?
Kākāpō are the only lek-breeding parrot in the world. A lek is a mating system where males gather in a communal area, called a lek, to display to females. Male kākāpō spend months preparing ‘track and bowl’ systems (networks of cleared paths and depressions that help resonate sound) where they perform booming and chinging courtship calls. These nightly displays to attract females from across the island can last for weeks or even months on end. Once mating is done, the female takes on all parenting duties – nesting, incubating, and raising the chick’s solo.
Our mahi behind the scenes
Just like male kākāpō preparing for breeding season, we’ve been busy getting ready.
From recruiting and training staff, to ensuring island infrastructure and data networks are running smoothly, it’s all hands-on deck.
Our National Partner, Meridian Energy, plays a vital role in maintaining generators and power systems on the remote breeding islands to support the seasonal influx of people and power critical equipment like chick incubators.
Ahead of each season, we strategically transferred some birds between islands, based on their history and genetics, to give them all the best chance of success. Around October we start providing supplementary food to help some birds reach optimal breeding condition.
Each kākāpō wears a radio transmitter that tracks their activity and location year-round. These allow us to learn remotely when matings occur (Dec-Jan), who mated with who, and when females are nesting.
During nesting and hatching (Jan–March), we locate nests, ensure their safety, and set up nearby camps to keep an eye on things. Vulnerable eggs or chicks may need incubators, hand-rearing or taken to the mainland for specialist care.
Through April and May, we continue to monitor chick growth and ensure they fledge safely.
Every breeding season is a chance to grow the kākāpō population, however success goes beyond numbers alone.
Image 2: Operations Manager Deidre Vercoe assess fertility and development of kākāpō egg.
Image 3: Kākāpō eating from feeding hopper | Jake Osborne/DOC
Redefining the measures of success
Kākāpō are among the most intensively managed species on Earth but as the population grows, the same level of on the ground management isn’t sustainable.
After 30 years of managing each bird individually, breeding season success is now less about fledging numbers, and more about working towards establishing self-sustaining populations.
When the population numbered less than 200 birds, it was essential that every single chick made it through. In recent seasons we’ve been stepping back, phasing out nightly nest checks by using genetic ranking to prioritise eggs and chicks, and trialling low-intervention on Te Kākahu / Chalky Island.
The population is still critically endangered, so we’ll keep working hard to increase numbers, but as the population grows, we need to shift the balance towards understanding and supporting a more natural level of survival.
This season, we’ll step back further with:
- Fewer egg and chick checks
- More eggs hatching in nests rather than the safety of incubators
- Allowing mothers to raise multiple chicks
- Reduced supplementary feeding in some areas
- Expanding the low-management trial to parts of Pukenui / Anchor Island
Inevitably, this reduced management approach could result in a higher, more natural number of egg and chick deaths however this move toward minimal intervention is key to a more natural, efficient, and sustainable future for kākāpō recovery.
The habitat challenge
While the potential of a record-breaking season is great news, kākāpō still face big challenges. Ongoing research on genetics and disease are helping us learn as much as possible to support a healthy population, but the most pressing challenge is finding more suitable habitat. We are trialling new small islands and a fenced sanctuary site, but what this species really needs is large scale habitat. As a former natural home to kākāpō, Rakiura/Stewart Island is the perfect contender, but introduced predators need to be removed to make it safer for kākāpō to return. You can learn more about why Predator Free Rakiura could be a game changer for kākāpō in this new blog post.
Let’s make history, together
The 2026 breeding season could mark a significant turning point for kākāpō, not just in numbers, but in how we support the future of this taonga species.
You can support the mahi, and follow along as we bring kākāpō stories from the remote islands of Southern New Zealand to the world.
- Sign up to our newsletter
- Volunteer: This breeding season there will only be a very limited number of volunteer roles available. These will be advertised here in August.
- Help create safe habitat for kākāpō on Rakiura. Visit New Zealand Nature Fund to donate
- Get on board with Predator Free 2050 and Predator Free Rakiura (Removing predators from Stewart Island/Rakiura)
Our mahi is achieved with our Treaty Partner Ngāi Tahu and National Partner Meridian Energy which provides funding as well as electrical infrastructure, technology and volunteering support to the programme.
Invaluable to the programme too, is the expertise from vet supporters Auckland Zoo and Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, and the transportation of threatened species through the DOC and Air New Zealand national partnership.
With 100 percent of our operational costs covered externally, work to help restore the mauri (lifeforce) of kākāpō is also made possible thanks to the generosity of hundreds of volunteers, supporters and donors.
The kākāpō are ready. We’re ready. Let’s make history, together!
kia ora team, I am a long time kākāpō geek – looking forward to seeing what 2026 breeding season brings us. I am working on a current kākāpō list which has all living females and males plus all the deceased ones I know about.
I have been re-checking everything I can find via the socials and doc pages (including the conservation blog) but we can’t get my base ‘alive’ list to balance (I am about 7 over the current official population number announced with the death of Solstice) – having the accurate list would really help my geeking out and projecting for the breeding season. I have based my list on the one found online that has not been updated in many years. I think possibly some of my gaps trace back to lack of info in covid times. It would also really help to know who is where – but I realise this might not be something the team wants publicly known – knowing which males and females are NOT available for breeding this year would be helpful. Who knows – my geekiness might turn up something useful – if there is a particular area of focus that could be of use from me and my computer, I would be happy to support! (I am a 20+ year family history researcher as another hobby, with special focus on DNA – I manage a number of family member DNA accounts and have used my amateur sleuthing skills and genealogical proof standard to solve a number of long held family mysteries, I was also an Environmental Educator and Primary Teacher a few years back…).
Do you know how many chicks you may get in 2026. Do certain factors (weather, strong mating partners ect) increase or decrease potential numbers for the breeding season and can you boost numbers though interventions or do you just leave them to themselves to not disturb the birds?
Has any consideration been given to placing Kakapo in the ZIP Predator Free South Westland area? Not a suitable area? To small? Unsuitable climate? The Perth and Whataroa Valleys would seem like a great place but I’m not the authority on this of course.
The Kākāpō Recovery team carried out a site visit earlier this year to assess the suitability of the Predator-free South Westland area. We identified that large parts could potentially accommodate kākāpō and are working with partners to further evaluate the long-term suitability of the site. With a strong need for more kākāpō habitat, large areas of indigenous forest with no or low densities of mammalian pests, such as PFSW, are just what kākāpō need.
Are there any plans for a north island breeding population? I understand it was trialed on little barrier island. With the population getting larger, how long until the breeding populations outgrow the three breeding islands?
Great questions Luke. We don’t have any plans to establish breeding populations in the North Island in the near future however there is a habitat trial at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari where three males are living to help us learn how they may be able to thrive in the fenced habitat there. As with Hauturu/Little Barrie Island, this trial could take years before we know enough about the site and its potential future for kākāpō.
After 12 years, it was decided in 2023 that we could end the Hauturu trial and that the birds would be more valuable back on the Southern breeding islands. We have a great blog post that explains the ins and outs this, along with more of the new site challenges here: https://blog.doc.govt.nz/2024/08/29/conservation-at-kakapo-pace/
We believe the Southern breeding islands are close to ‘kākāpō capacity’, although it’s hard to be exact. Our main indicators are increased fighting among males (which can result in death), female nesting space use, and home range sizes. We are conducting research to better understand the habitat use of kākāpō on the breeding islands. In the meantime, males which are either too young, or not required in the breeding population are homed on nearby islands. This helps provides the priority breeding population with the best chance of nesting success.
Kia ora from Germany!
So exciting that there will be a breeding season again in 2026 – this is the news we’ve been waiting for!
I adopted Waikawa, Gulliver, Kuia, and Solstice, and make donations every now and then. Of course, I’m going to support kākāpō recovery this upcoming breeding season, too. Looking forward to all the news during this season, even though I’m aware that every breeding season has its ups and downs. You all do such a great job – thank you all so much for your mahi!
I find Kakapo’s so fascinating. I just love listening to their boom. Hoping 2026 is a very successful year.
Wonderful news. At 82 I might not have many 4 year cycles ahead so I hipe this is a bumper one with fewest hiccups!
Fingers crossed for a thumping booming season .
Well done everyone involved.
We are with you!
I’m so hyped for the next breeding season and chicks 😀
Kākāpō have been my favourite birds for years now (I’m a hobby ornithologist) and seeing new content and the population numbers growing leaves me filled with awe for your hard work. It even inspired me to write a novel about DOC and the genetic powers of the Fiordland kākāpō.
Keep going and have the numbers growing – slowly but hopefully steadily by nature handling itself!
– Best wishes from Germany
Thanks for your message and for bringing the hype Maja! 🙌
Awesome
Best of wishes and hope for a great season, you are all awesome working so hard with this and saving the kākāpō. Hearts and HUGS for you all!
Inger/Swedish member, donator and one of Marama’s adoptive persons.
Thanks for your support Inger. 💚
Unfortunately the link to donate to the New Zealand Nature Fund seems to be broken.
Thanks Laurent, that’s fixed now.
Right now only 2% of the total genes in the population are Richard Henry’s genes. Mathematically the other 98% will continue to swamp these genes and dilute the genetic rescue unless drastic intervention is done. And because of the math, the percentage will only get worse every year unless action is taken NOW. Ideally the average bird on the island needs to be in the what high teens or 20s percentage Richard Henry for a strong genetic rescue. So Sinbad and Gulliver need at least 20 chicks each this season!
Thanks for raising this point. It’s great seeing people interested in Kākāpō recovery.
Your comment touches on some important aspects of genetic rescue. Genetic rescue is about maintaining overall diversity, not just boosting one lineage. Combined with the long-lived nature of Kākāpō, periodic breeding cycles, and resource limitations, we have to approach it very careful.
We track the long-term history of all founders’ lineages and zoom in to the individual gene level using whole-genome sequencing. This lets us follow individual lineages, including Richard Henry, and the history of specific haplotypes and their frequency in the population. While Richard Henry has some unique haplotypes, he also has some very common ones that we do not need to prioritize. A percentage isn’t quite the whole picture, and we are working with the detailed, ‘zoomed in’ genetic diversity picture to get a better understanding. We’re also collaborating on a grant for a population genetics digital twin – something to help us track these lineages and genes with unprecedented detail, and simulate into the future to see which lineages are most at risk of being lost. If you’re curious, there is more detail here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10796009/, although it’s a strong paper. I recommend throwing it into NotebookLM to get a podcast version of it. Figure 1(d) gets to the heart of what we are talking about: each portion of a genome has its own lineage we must carefully track.
Thanks again for your question and suggestion!
Currently, there are 25 birds that are descending from Richard Henry, so over 10% of birds have Fiordland genes, which is pretty impressive given that Richard Henry only had offspring once. Kuiha and Gulliver are very active and there offspring is starting to breed and be very productive. It’s just Sinbad who lags a bit behind, but thanks to artificial insemination his offspring is also starting to be numerous and they will also start breeding so I’m not really concerned with this line.
I would love Joe, Bonus, Bluster-Murphy, Morehu and Egilsay have chicks, but I really guess DOC knows best and definitely better than me lol.
Every single person working on this program deserves an award!
Is Jean considered breeding age still? Or do the team think she aged out of this range?
Yes she is. All females aged five and over are counted as ‘breeding age’ because we still don’t know how long females can continue to reproduce. While we don’t know her exact age, Jean was first discovered in 1981. Her last nesting attempt was in the 2019 season, when she laid three infertile eggs and she didn’t nest in 2022. Another female, Nora – who’s a founding bird like Jean – has impressively raised chicks across 38 years. So, who knows what these remarkable old birds are capable of? Time will tell!
Do you have a Kākāpō nest live cam like you have the Royal Cam for the albatross?
If not, please install one.
Hi Kristen, we have trialled this in the past – Kākāpō Cam 2022 – and we’re working with the team to see what’s possible this season. Stay tuned.