Kakapo low. Supplementary feeding affects the sex ratio of kakapo offspring, and can be used to increase the number of female chicks by deliberately manipulating maternal condition. During the winter of 1981, only females lighter than were given supplementary feeding to avoid raising their body condition, and the sex ratio results in 1982 were close to parity, eliminating the male-biased sex ratios in the unrestricted feeding. Today commercial parrot food is supplied to all individuals of breeding age on Whenua Hou and Anchor. The amount eaten and individual weights are carefully monitored to ensure that optimum body condition is maintained. Kakapo
Kakapo metabolic demands in comparison to flighted birds. It is able to survive easily on very little or on very low quality food sources. Unlike most other bird species, the kakapo is entirely herbivorous, feeding on fruits, seeds, leaves, stems, and rhizomes. When foraging, kakapo tend to leave crescent-shaped wads of fiber in the vegetation behind them, called "browse signs". Having lost the ability to fly, it has developed strong legs. Locomotion is often by way of a rapid "jog-like" gait by which it can move several kilometres. A female has been observed making two return trips each night during nesting