Kakapo its specific epithet "habroptilus" comes from "habros" "soft", and "ptilon" "feather". The bird has so many unusual features that it was initially placed in its own tribe, Strigopini. Recent phylogenetic studies have confirmed the unique position of this genus as well as the closeness to the kākā and the kea, both belonging to the New Zealand parrot genus "Nestor". Together, they are now considered a separate superfamily within the parrots, Strigopoidea, the most basal of all living parrots. Within the Strigopoidea, the kakapo is placed in its own family, Strigopidae. The common ancestor of the kakapo and the genus "Nestor"
Flightless bird more species of flightless birds (including the kiwi, several species of penguins, the takahe, the weka, the moa, and several other extinct species) than any other such location. One reason is that until the arrival of humans roughly a thousand years ago, there were no large land predators in New Zealand; the main predators of flightless birds were larger birds. Ratites belong to the superorder Palaeognathae birds, which include the volant tinamou, and are believed to have evolved flightlessness independently multiple times within their own group. Some birds evolved flightlessness in response to the absence of predators, for example on