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,
Rakiura National Park the national park. Many native birds can be found within the park, and Rakiura offers perhaps the best opportunity anywhere in New Zealand for viewing kiwi in the wild. This is in part due to the absence of stoats and ferrets. Certain coastal areas of this park are breeding areas for the endangered yellow-eyed penguin. Weka, a flightless and curious bird species, can only be found on offshore islands. In the 1970s, kakapo were found in the Tin Range at a time when it was thought that the species was nearly extinct. The kakapo have been transferred to nearby Codfish