The 2019 kākāpō breeding season set many records. It was the earliest, the longest – and of course, the biggest breeding season ever recorded.
Two hundred and fifty two kākāpō eggs were laid over three months, starting on Christmas Day 2018.
They began hatching at the end of January 2019, when Kohitatea became the earliest kākāpō chick ever to hatch.
The last chick to hatch, on 20 April 2019 was Stella’s chick Manawanui.
Many chicks were hand-reared, by a team of wildlife experts from many places, including Auckland Zoo.
Join Alison Ballance for part 6 of an audio adventure as the kākāpō chicks start hatching.
In the bumper 2019 kākāpō breeding season the first chick hatched in late January and the final chick hatched in late April. Photo: Andrew Digby / DOC
You can find the Kākāpō Files as a podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, iHeartRADIO and RadioPublic.
If you would like to know more about kākāpō you can follow the Kākāpō Recovery Programme on Facebook and Instagram. Kākāpō scientist Andrew Digby is on Twitter. Or check out the book Kākāpō - rescued from the brink of extinction by Alison Ballance.
Listen to the full series
Voice of the Kākāpō 1: Kākāpō - night parrot
Voice of the Kākāpō 2: Whenua Hou, kākāpō island
Voice of the Kākāpō 3: Nest checks
Voice of the Kākāpō 4: Promise
Voice of the Kākāpō 5: Kākāpō sperm takes to the air
Voice of the Kākāpō 6: Kākāpō chicks
Voice of the Kākāpō 7: Dark days
Voice of the Kākāpō 8: Success
