Kakapo and stiffness required for flight, they are exceptionally soft, giving rise to the specific epithet "habroptilus". The kakapo has a conspicuous facial disc of fine feathers resembling the face of an owl; thus, early European settlers called it the "owl parrot". The beak is surrounded by delicate feathers which resemble vibrissae or "whiskers"; it is possible kakapo use these to sense the ground as they walk with its head lowered, but there is no evidence for this. The mandible is variable in colour, mostly ivory, with the upper part often bluish-grey. The eyes are dark brown. Kakapo feet are large,
Kakapo which Stephen Fry and Carwardine revisit the animals to see how they are getting on almost 20 years later, and in January 2009, they spent time filming the kakapo on Codfish Island. Footage of a kakapo named Sirocco attempting to mate with Carwardine's head was viewed by millions worldwide, leading to Sirocco becoming "spokes-bird" for New Zealand wildlife conservation in 2010. The kakapo was featured in the episode "Strange Islands" of the documentary series "South Pacific", originally aired on 13 June 2009, in the episode "Worlds Apart" of the series "The Living Planet", and in episode 3 of the BBC's