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 the habitable range for kakapo. Although the kakapo was extinct in many parts of the islands by the time Europeans arrived, including the Tararua and Aorangi Ranges, it was locally abundant in parts of New Zealand, such as the central North Island and forested parts of the South Island. Although kakapo numbers were reduced by Māori settlement, they rapidly declined after European colonisation. Beginning in the 1840s, Pākehā settlers cleared vast tracts of land for farming and grazing, further reducing kakapo habitat. They brought more dogs and other mammalian predators, including domestic cats, black rats and stoats. Europeans knew little