(PhysOrg.com) -- A mathematical model used to assess the nutrient balance of the kakapo diet has the potential to help solve one of the main challenges to saving the endangered native parrot.

During the lean years in between, the kakapo’s natural diet consists of coarse leaves, grasses and herbs which lack adequate nutrients for the rearing of chicks. Environmental and Evolutionary ...

Meet the kakapo—a chunky, moss-green parrot that looks like it waddled out of a fantasy novel and forgot how to fly. This New Zealand native carries one of the bird world's most tragic and oddly ...

The kakapo is a strange little bird ... and that New Zealand’s own moa included small annual herbs in their diet. Yet even records locked in coprolites must be interpreted with care.

Kakapo were one of New Zealand's most common ... Each parrot also has its nest fitted with sensors and cameras, and is given a tailored diet via nearby feeding stations. "They don't get a lot ...

“The [kakapo] is such an oddball ... and it may have needed to supplement its diet, Hand says. Meat-eating isn’t typical for parrots, but the birds have been known to be opportunistic.

I’m John Dankosky. DIANA PLASKER: And I’m Diana Plasker. Our next story takes us to New Zealand to meet a very special, quirky, and critically endangered parrot, the kakapo. It’s the only parrot that ...

WELLINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - The population of New Zealand's kakapo, an endangered flightless parrot, has increased 25% in the last year to 252 birds following a good breeding season and success ...