Kakapo Booming

In the breeding season the male kakapo makes some bowls in the ground and tracks in between his bowls to use as an area to perform to attract female kakapo for mating.

When the male is in one of his bowls he blows himself up like a balloon and makes a deep booming call. The male kakapo has a thoracic sac in his chest which he can inflate to make the booming noise.The sound carries for a great distance (up to five kilometres).

Kakapo male 'booming'

When a female hears it, she comes and watches him boom, and may choose him for a mate.

When the male kakapo boom, they are competing to get the female kakapo to look at them. This type of mating is called 'lek mating' - it's when birds use an area to perform for courtship.

After mating, the female kakapo lays two or three eggs in a nest hollow, under a log or a tussock. She looks after the eggs and chicks all by herself, feeding the chicks for 10 weeks.

Kakapo may not breed every year. They wait for a year when the rimu and kahikatea are laden with fruit. Then the birds grow fat and are able to find enough food to feed their chicks.