Kakapo its specific epithet "habroptilus" comes from "habros" "soft", and "ptilon" "feather". The bird has so many unusual features that it was initially placed in its own tribe, Strigopini. Recent phylogenetic studies have confirmed the unique position of this genus as well as the closeness to the kākā and the kea, both belonging to the New Zealand parrot genus "Nestor". Together, they are now considered a separate superfamily within the parrots, Strigopoidea, the most basal of all living parrots. Within the Strigopoidea, the kakapo is placed in its own family, Strigopidae. The common ancestor of the kakapo and the genus "Nestor"
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