# Kākāpō (*Strigops habroptila*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/k-k-p  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The kākāpō (Strigops habroptila), also called the Kakapo or Owl parrot, is a medium-sized bird in the parrot family Strigopidae, order Psittaciformes. Adults weigh 1.5 to 2.06 kg, with a representative body mass of 1.73 kg, and it has a lifespan of 60 years. It is an omnivore by diet category and a herbivore by trophic level, lives in forest habitat, is sedentary, and checklists record it in Australia. The kākāpō is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, an IUCN threatened category, and its geographic range measures 57.25 km².

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.5 kg – 2.06 kg |
| Length | up to 64 cm |
| Lifespan | 60 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 30 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2.35 |
| Age at maturity | 5 years – 9.99 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.333 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Generalist |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Critically Endangered (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Psittaciformes
- family: Strigopidae
- genus: Strigops
- species: *Strigops habroptila* G. R. Gray, 1845

Synonyms: *Strigops greyii*, *Strigops habroptilus*, *Strigops habroptilus innominatus*, *Strigops habroptilus parsonsi*, *Stringops habroptilus*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the kākāpō?

The kākāpō is a bird, a parrot in the family Strigopidae and the order Psittaciformes.

### How heavy is the kākāpō?

Adult Kākāpō weigh from 1.5 to 2.06 kg, with a representative body mass of 1.73 kg.

### What does the kākāpō eat?

The kākāpō is classed as an omnivore by diet category, and its trophic level is herbivore.

### Is the kākāpō endangered?

Yes. The kākāpō is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List, which is an IUCN threatened category.

### How long does the kākāpō live?

The kākāpō has a lifespan of 60 years.

### Which countries is the kākāpō recorded in?

Checklists record the kākāpō in Australia.

### How many eggs does the kākāpō lay?

The kākāpō lays 2.35 eggs per clutch, with 0.333 clutches per year, and incubation lasts 30 days.

### Who named the kākāpō?

The kākāpō, Strigops habroptila, was named by G. R. Gray, 1845.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Kākāpō (Strigops habroptila). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/k-k-p