Meet the world's rarest parrot

The chance to get up close and personal with one of the world's rarest birds does not come along every day, but this Saturday Southlanders will be able to spend some quality time with the endangered kakapo.

Last year the same promotion attracted a massive crowd of 3000 and the goodwill is expected to continue, especially after what has been a bumper breeding season yielding 33 new chicks.

Twenty-six of those chicks are being hand-reared at an Invercargill site after the rimu fruit on Codfish Island failed to ripen to sufficient levels.

Seven chicks remained on the island, Department of Conservation Kakapo Recovery team leader Deidre Vercoe said.

While this was not an ideal situation, given the fight the species had had over the years to even survive, it was one in which the chicks and team members had adapted to well, she said.

The chicks were "all getting a bit older and a bit more stable and we don't have many concerns about their health. They're growing up and they're turning green", Ms Vercoe said.

"I think it says a lot about how prepared we were. We were really lucky to have some good procedures."

Those good procedures had largely been the result of behind-the-scenes work. Ms Vercoe said the public day would be an ideal opportunity for people to see what was ‘‘in their backyard''.
"It's also good to see that awareness - that these birds live in the area and aren't locked away in secret."

Ms Vercoe said there were two main reasons why the kakapo had endeared itself so much to the general public.

"The rarer something is the more interest there is and there's the history as well; they almost went extinct and they've got a lot of character."

The chicks will return to the island when they are about 80 days old, with some to return by the end of the month.

Ms Vercoe said there would not be a breeding season this summer on Codfish Island, but possibly on Anchor Island.

• The event is being hosted by Kakapo Recovery, a partnership between Doc, Rio Tinto Alcan New Zealand and Forest and Bird, and will be held at the Invercargill Workingmen's Club from 10am until 4pm, Saturday, May 23.

- By Matt Maley