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 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