Holocene extinction may have put some pressure on other birds but at the time of early European contact (18th Century) and colonisation (19th Century) the bird life was prolific. With them, the Europeans brought ship rats, possums, cats and mustelids which decimated native bird life, some of which had adapted flightlessness and ground nesting habits and others had no defensive behavior as a result of having no extant endemic mammalian predators. The kakapo, the world's biggest parrot, which is flightless, now only exists in managed breeding sanctuaries. New Zealand's national emblem, the kiwi, is on the endangered bird list. There has been
Kakapo flax fibre to create cloaks and capes. Each one required up to 11,000 feathers to make. Not only were these garments considered very beautiful, they also kept the wearer very warm. They were highly valued, and the few still in existence today are considered "taonga" (treasures) – indeed, the old Māori adage "You have a kākāpō cape and you still complain of the cold" was used to describe someone who is never satisfied. Kakapo feathers were also used to decorate the heads of taiaha, but were removed before use in combat. Despite this, the kakapo was also regarded as an