The different habits of the owl make it a rather unique species: it is the only parrot in the world that does not fly, has the largest body size, is nocturnal, herbivorous, exhibits a sexually alien body structure, and may also be the longest-lived bird in the world, generally believed to be up to 60 years or more. The Owl is endemic to New Zealand.
Chinese name: Xiāo parrot
English name: kakapo
Scientific name: strigops habroptilus
world
Animal kingdom animalia
door
Chordata
class
Ornithopoda aves
eye
Psittaciformes
section
Parrotaceae strigopidae
genus
Parrot genus strigops
seed
Parrot S. habroptila
Species Naming:
Owl Parrot - Maori: kākāpō, is the meaning of night parrot
Scientific name: strigops habroptila, named after the Greek,
strigos，
Genus of the word strix: owl;
ops: faces;
habros: Soft,
ptilon: feathers;
The full name is a bird with a face like an owl and soft feathers
Video: Parrot Mandarin voiced
Duration: 3 minutes 53 seconds
The Owl parrot is a large, rounded parrot ; when mature , the male can reach a length of 60 cm and weigh 2 to 4 kg. Because of this, the owl parrot is not like other birds to maintain a light body, they will store a lot of fat in the body, so that their weight is the highest in their peers.
Unable to fly, with a pair of relatively short wings and missing the keel of the bird's control flight muscles. Its wings are not enough to make it fly, but only as a general balance, or to provide some degree of support when jumping from a tree. From its anatomy, it is known that it symbolizes the evolutionary tendency of some birds - after landing on the island, it has abundant food and few natural enemies, and its ability to fly is not suitable for thermodynamic benefits, resulting in the degeneration of wing muscles, the disappearance of keels on the sternum, and the growth of a strong and strong body.
The feathers on the surface of the parrot are colored in a variety of colors, and in addition to the yellowish and mossy green as the main color, there are also black to dark brown stripes on the feathers, which allow them to hide themselves under natural vegetation. In fact, the colours, hues and mottled patterns of different individuals can vary greatly – some museum specimens are covered in yellow. The thorax and flanks are yellowish-green with yellow stripes , and the yellow is still prominent on the abdomen , under the tail , neck and face , with green stripes and a small amount of mottled brownish grey. Since they do not have to cope with the strength and stiffness required to fly, the feathers are surprisingly soft.
The delicate feathers on the face of the parrot form a striking plate, a common feature on the face of the owl that causes immigrants from Europe to call them "owl parrots". Their beaks are surrounded by sensitive feathers or mustaches to sense and guide them as they head down.
Except for the upper part of the beak, which is blue-gray, the rest of the beak is mainly milky white, and the eyes are dark brown. The legs of the parrot are large, thick, scaly, and, like other parrots, are toe-footed (two toes forward and two toes backward). Their claws are larger than those of other parrots to facilitate climbing among the branches. The tail often drags forward on the ground, so the feathers at the end of the tail have signs of wear.
Parrots have a well-established olfactory system that complements their nocturnal habits, such as their ability to distinguish food by smell when foraging.
Owl parrots rise diurnal and nocturnal, inhabiting the shade of large trees or on the ground during the day, and only linger in their fields at night. Mainly herbivorous, native plants, seeds, fruits and pollen, etc., and even the sapwood of some trees can become their food. A 1984 study of the food and feeding habits of owl parrots identified a total of 25 species of food and proved that they are a wide range of herbivorous organisms, interested in different trees, shrubs and ferns.
Although they can't fly, their wings aren't completely useless , and by spreading their wings they glide slightly and provide balance and braking power. In addition, they develop strong legs, are good at climbing, can climb the towering canopy, and use a quick and gentle stride to walk for several kilometers when moving.
Parrots are curious, so records of interaction with humans are well documented. In a letter to a Nineteenth-century European in New Zealand, sir George Gray, he wrote that one of his parrot pets treated him and his friends "more like a dog than a bird".
They mostly nest under the cover of ground plants or in caves like tree holes, and can lay up to 3 eggs per reproductive period. They focus on the entire hatching process, but are forced to leave at night foraging, so it is often the case that the hunter swallows or the embryo cools down in the absence of the mother.
The eggs of the owl parrots generally hatch after 30 days, and the chicks are covered with gray fluff. Female owl parrots continue to feed for about 3 months after the eggs hatch, and even if the young birds have fully grown feathers, they will still live with their mother for many more months. For the trapper, the young birds are no stronger than they are still inside the eggs. When adult parrots are hunted, they are equally doomed. It is not until 10 to 12 weeks before the young leave the nest for the first time. As they become more independent, the mother will still feed them individually for up to 6 months.
The Owl is a bird with the lowest reproductive rate, and they do not breed every year, but only in years when there is a large food supply, such as when the trees bear a particularly high number of fruits.
An interesting source of information about the breeding system of the Owl is that female parrots can change the sex ratio of their offspring according to the condition of their mothers. When female owl parrots eat more protein-rich foods, they give birth to male-dominated offspring (males are generally 30 to 40% heavier than females). As a result, female parrots will still give birth when food or resources are tight, but will prefer to give birth to a single sex so that the sexes within the population can be dispersed (e.g., concentrated in female offspring), and not when the amount of food is abundant. Male parrots mate with different females when food is plentiful to achieve the natural mission of species continuation.
The ancestors of the Owl parrot migrated to New Zealand in prehistoric times. In the absence of mammalian predators, they lose the ability to fly. Since the introduction of creatures such as cats, rats and ferrets by Polynesian and European colonists, the number of parrots has declined significantly.
Conservation measures began in 1890, but most of them were ineffective until the national parrot rehabilitation program was formalized in 1980.
Since the introduction of the Owl Restoration Programme in 1989, the number of owl parrots is gradually increasing. The red arrow indicates that the year is a breeding year.
In November 2005, the remaining Owl in New Zealand was only active and closely regulated in four hunter-free areas, including Maui, Chokee, Kodefish and Anker. In two islands in the fjord region of South Zealand, Resolushin and Secretelli, large-scale island restoration activities are under way to provide a suitable habitat for the Owl.
The Owl is currently one of the most endangered species in the world, but the success of the Owl Restoration Program has allowed the species to exceed 100 in March 2009 after more than half a century with fewer than 50 remaining. By July 2015, the number of parrots had finally increased to 125.
Relationship with Māori culture
As a monolithic species, the parrot has a rich meaning in Maori folk songs and beliefs. If their irregular breeding cycles often coincide with harvest years, trees such as the New Zealand terrestrial pine that bear fruit once every few years also bear fruit in their breeding years, causing Maori to often praise the parrot's ability to predict the future. Another argument for citing this claim comes from an observation of them. Parrots are accustomed to burying their berries in secluded ponds in secluded ponds during seasons such as elaeocarpus dentatus and beilschmiedia tawa, and Māori also have this habit, and they also hide their food deep in the water for this purpose. This unique tradition is believed to come from Maori observations of parrots.
While parrots were still widely distributed on the New Zealand mainland, Maori would hunt owl parrots and treat them as delicacies because of their delicious taste. One theory is that the taste and texture of parrot meat is not much different from that of lamb.
In addition to being hunted for food, the Maori also use their fur, especially the feathers still attached to them, to make a cape or cloak, each of which requires more than 11,000 parrot feathers. Has a very warming effect. As a result, each cloak is of great value, especially the few that are still well preserved and are cherished as holy relics. A Maori proverb " Have a parrot cape but still complain about the cold " is often used to accommodate those who are insatiable.
The feathers of the Owl Parrot are also commonly used to decorate the Maori spear Tai'aha, but are removed in real duels.
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