Broad-billed parrot sketch actually shows that the wings are not particularly short. They appear broad, as they commonly are in forest-adapted species, and the alula appears large, a feature of slow-flying birds. Its sternal keel was reduced, but not enough to prevent flight, as the adept flying "Cyanoramphus" parrots also have reduced keels, and even the flightless kakapo, with its vestigial keel, is capable of gliding. Furthermore, Hoffman's account states that it could fly, albeit with difficulty, and the first published illustration shows the bird on top of a tree, an improbable position for a flightless bird. The broad-billed parrot may have
Kakapo affectionate pet by the Māori. This was corroborated by European settlers in New Zealand in the 19th century, among them George Edward Grey, who once wrote in a letter to an associate that his pet kakapo's behaviour towards him and his friends was "more like that of a dog than a bird". The conservation of the kakapo has made the species well known. Many books and documentaries detailing the plight of the kakapo have been produced in recent years, one of the earliest being "Two in the Bush", made by Gerald Durrell for the BBC in 1962. A feature-length documentary,