Kakapo than females. Twenty-eight males were found to average in one study, and 39 males were found to average in another. In the same studies, 28 females were found to average and 18 females were found to average , respectively. Kakapo are the heaviest living species of parrot and on average weigh about more than the largest flying parrot, the hyacinth macaw. The kakapo cannot fly, having relatively short wings for its size and lacking the keel on the sternum (breastbone), where the flight muscles of other birds attach. It uses its wings for balance and to break its fall when
Geography of New Zealand isolation, and this has resulted in a dynamic evolutionary ecology with examples of very distinctive plants and animals as well as populations of widespread species. Evergreens such as the giant kauri and southern beech dominate the forests. It also has a diverse range of birds, several of which are flightless such as the kiwi (a national icon), the kakapo, the takahē and the weka, and several species of penguins. Around 30 bird species are currently listed as endangered or critically endangered. Conservationists recognised that threatened bird populations could be saved on offshore islands, where, once predators were exterminated, bird life