The Kākāpō Files podcast is back with what’s set to be the biggest breeding season of all time for the world’s favourite parrot. Monthly episodes from late May 2026.
The biggest kākāpō season on record has come to an end, with a bumper number of chicks reaching the milestone of 150 days old. The 90 chicks have boosted the kākāpō population from 235 birds to 325, an increase of more than a third. The 2026 season saw 48 kākāpō mums produce living chicks, fathered by 32 dads. The ‘top dad’ was 10-year Tūterangi, breeding for the first time, who fathered 10 chicks with six females. Ten chicks were fathered with the help of artificial insemination. DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme reports that not all of this year’s chicks will be named, and that they expect the next breeding season to be in two years’ time.
Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz (mailto:kakapo@rnz.co.nz).
In this episode:
00:00 – Introduction
01:42 – Deidre Vercoe announces 90 chicks and population of 325 kākāpō
04:45 – Naming kākāpō
06:00 – Daryl Eason on the identity of the dads
10:27 – 10 chicks fathered through artificial insemination
15:59 – Andrew Digby on stepping back from intensive management
18:20 – next breeding season in 2028
24:43 – Deidre Vercoe on predator-free habitats
28:58 - Closing credits…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details (https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/wild-sounds?share=3c682f49-0c51-4326-b2e6-e4b1596d0508)
13 Jul 2026
Kākāpō Files II 19 | Kākāpō Goings On
The oldest chick of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season, Tiwhiri-A1 has reached 150 days old and can be officially counted. This milestone increases the kākāpō population by one bird to 236, the first time it has risen in 4 years. The first chicks to reach independence are roosting away from their mums and feeding themselves, and two chicks have dropped their transmitters and are now “off-grid”. With the threat of deadly H5N1 bird flu looming, vet Lydia Uddstrom explains that about a quarter of the most genetically valuable kākāpō will be vaccinated against bird flu, especially on Whenua Hou, which has a large population of seabirds.
Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz.
In this episode:
00:00 – Introduction
02:30 – Island news with ranger Louise Porter
13:45 – Highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu
17:28 - Vet Lydia Uddstrom on bird flu vaccinations
26:10 - How do kākāpō contract aspergillosis
27:37 - Are any kākāpō on display
28:20 - Frozen sperm
29:17 - How kākāpō use space
37:06 - Are kākāpō cuddly
38:00 - Closing credits…
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details (https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/wild-sounds?share=ef1e14c5-767c-4f81-ba73-6fef3e42da3c)
15 Jun 2026
Kākāpō Files II 18 | Good Kākāpō Things Take Time
Six months after this record-breaking kākāpō breeding season began, all 91 living chicks have fledged and left the nest. The chicks remain with their kākāpō mums and are still being fed by them, as well as eating a range of plant material, and as cold wet midwinter weather sets in the chicks are learning to find dry roost sites. The Kākāpō Team’s Daryl Eason and Andrew Digby answer listener questions, including why did Kākāpō cam star Rakiura spend so much time in the nest digging, what can you learn from a piece of egg shell, and could old museum specimens be a source of lost kākāpō genes?
Send any Kākāpō Files questions and comments to kakapo@rnz.co.nz
In this episode:
02:06 – Island news with ranger Daniella Whitaker
06:21 – Update on Kākāpō Cam star Rakiura
11:43 – Sick kākāpō
15:19 - Are kākāpō smart?
18:19 - Previous nest cams
20:05 - Why did Rakiura dig so much in her nest?
24:00 - Do kākāpō compete with other species?
25:30 - Kākāpō on Coal Island and at Sanctuary Mountain Mangatautari
30:57 - Museum specimens and lost genes
Learn more:
Follow the Kākāpō Files (https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/kakapo-files) podcast to keep up to date
Listen to the Voice of the Kākāpō series (https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/voice-of-the-kakapo) for a recap of the 2019 breeding season. Also listen to the episodes covering the interim 2022 breeding season (https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/kakapo-files/season-1/bonus-episode-2022-a-boomer-year-for-kakap), and about how a few male kākāpō have fared in the North Island, in the fenced Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari (https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/kakapo-files/season-1/ocw-a-year-of-mainland-kakapo)
For more New Zealand science and nature find and follow the Our Changing World (https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/ourchangingworld) podcast, and subscribe to the show’s monthly newsletter (https://radionz.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=211a938dcf3e634ba2427dde9&id=81ad21bafe)
Guests:
Kākāpō ranger, Daniella Whitaker, Kākāpō Recovery Programme (https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/kakapo-recovery/)
Kākāpō technical advisor, Daryl Eason, Kākāpō Recovery Programme (https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/kakapo-recovery/)
Kākāpō science advisor, Andrew Digby
References:
Kākāpō Files is made in collaboration with the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme. (https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/kakapo-recovery/)
Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details (https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/wild-sounds?share=ddcb33cb-2485-42c3-91bb-b9036f962cef)
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