DHowever you look at it, the kakapo is a natural phenomenon. First of all, its size – 60 centimetres long when fully grown – places it among the largest parrots in the world. Above all, its weight (up to 4 kilograms) crushes the competition. It must be said that it is the only one of this large family that does not steal. On the other hand, with its powerful legs, the New Zealand cyclist is able to cover several kilometres in a day. Or more precisely in a night, since during the day the “owl parrot”, as it was first called by European explorers, sleeps.
Its exceptional character does not end there. Its life expectancy is close to 90 years and some individuals have reached 120 years. A record attributed to a particularly slow basic metabolism. Its head has a facial disc, also in the shape of an owl, and its light blue beak is surrounded by whiskers, real detectors that help it to orient itself, with its head down, during its long excursions.
Let’s move on to their name, which, while perhaps not unrelated to their success, has nothing to do with any parental command at the time of a child’s first words. It simply means “night parrot” in the language of the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. On the other hand, it is impossible to avoid the extraordinary ritual – the lek – that surrounds their reproduction. Males build arenas, attract females with deep, percussive calls and fight each other every night. Then the winner puts on a final display that, if all goes well, results in one or more matings for him. The loser will try his luck another night.
All this might seem enough. But an international team of biologists judged otherwise. In an article published on Tuesday, September 10, in the journal More biologyhas just described and explained one last mystery surrounding the bird: its color. In fact, the approximately 250 existing animals offer two distinct plumages. Green for half of them, olive for the others. For those who would object that olives are green, the researchers point out that although the two shades do not differ dramatically to our eyes, they actually present a very different spectrum of light reflection.
“A balanced selection”
This colour does not come from any disparity in the colour of the feathers. The analysis of 168 individuals made it possible to precisely locate the region of the genome in question. And to conclude that the mutations caused not a chemical but a physical change in the feathers. A difference in structure that is very clear under the electron microscope, but above all clearly visible to certain predators coming from the sky.
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