Kakapo the "booms" (see below for a recording) and "chings" of their mating calls, they will often loudly "skraark". The kakapo has a well-developed sense of smell, which complements its nocturnal lifestyle. It can distinguish between odours while foraging, a behaviour reported in only one other parrot species. The kakapo has a large olfactory bulb ratio (longest diameter of the olfactory bulb/longest diameter of the brain) indicating that it does, indeed, have a more developed sense of smell than other parrots. One of the most striking characteristics of the kakapo is its distinct musty-sweet odour. The smell often alerts predators to
Kakapo Kākāpō 125 project aimed to sequence the genome of all living kakapo, as well as some museum specimens – the first time an entire species has had its genome sequenced. The project is a collaboration between Duke University and the New Zealand Genomics lab in Dunedin. Before the arrival of humans, the kakapo was distributed throughout both main islands of New Zealand. Although it may have inhabited Stewart Island before human arrival, it has so far not been found in the extensive fossil collections from there. Kakapo lived in a variety of habitats, including tussocklands, scrublands and coastal areas. It