Kakapo Codfish / Whenua Hou and Anchor, where they are closely monitored, and Little Barrier / Hauturu Island is being trialled as a third home for the species. The common English name "kakapo" comes from the Māori "kākāpō", from "kākā" ("parrot") + "pō" ("night"); the name is both singular and plural. "Kākāpō" is increasingly written in New Zealand English with the macrons that indicate long vowels. The kakapo was originally described by English ornithologist George Robert Gray in 1845 and named "Strigops habroptilus". Its generic name "Strigops" is derived from the Ancient Greek "strix", genitive "strigos" "owl", and "ops" "face", while
Kakapo kakapo is believed to employ bacteria in the fore-gut to ferment and help digest plant matter. Kakapo diet changes according to the season. The plants eaten most frequently during the year include some species of "Lycopodium ramulosum", "Lycopodium fastigium", "Schizaea fistulosa", "Blechnum minus", "Blechnum procerum", "Cyathodes juniperina", "Dracophyllum longifolium", "Olearia colensoi" and "Thelymitra venosa". Individual plants of the same species are often treated differently. Kakapo leave conspicuous evidence of their feeding activities, over feeding areas that range between and per individual. Kakapo feeding grounds almost always host manuka and yellow silver pine ("Lepidothamnus intermedius") scrubs. Fossil records indicate that in