Kakapo and stiffness required for flight, they are exceptionally soft, giving rise to the specific epithet "habroptilus". The kakapo has a conspicuous facial disc of fine feathers resembling the face of an owl; thus, early European settlers called it the "owl parrot". The beak is surrounded by delicate feathers which resemble vibrissae or "whiskers"; it is possible kakapo use these to sense the ground as they walk with its head lowered, but there is no evidence for this. The mandible is variable in colour, mostly ivory, with the upper part often bluish-grey. The eyes are dark brown. Kakapo feet are large,
Kakapo areas of Fiordland. Kakapo seem to have preferred broadleaf or mountain beech and Hall's tōtara forest with mild winters and high rainfall, but the species was not exclusively forest-dwelling. All kakapo that were transferred to predator-free islands in the last decades have adapted well to any changes in environment and food plants. It seems that the kakapo – like many of New Zealand's bird species – has evolved to occupy an ecological niche normally filled by various species of mammal (the only non-marine mammals native to New Zealand are ). The kakapo is primarily nocturnal; it roosts under cover in