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 kakapo is believed to employ bacteria in the fore-gut to ferment and help digest plant matter. Kakapo diet changes according to the season. The plants eaten most frequently during the year include some species of "Lycopodium ramulosum", "Lycopodium fastigium", "Schizaea fistulosa", "Blechnum minus", "Blechnum procerum", "Cyathodes juniperina", "Dracophyllum longifolium", "Olearia colensoi" and "Thelymitra venosa". Individual plants of the same species are often treated differently. Kakapo leave conspicuous evidence of their feeding activities, over feeding areas that range between and per individual. Kakapo feeding grounds almost always host manuka and yellow silver pine ("Lepidothamnus intermedius") scrubs. Fossil records indicate that in