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.
Latest episodes
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30 min
Kākāpō Files II 20 | Kākāpō Numbers Soar
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…
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39 min
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 t…
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35 min
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 bein…
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39 min
Kākāpō Files II 17 | Kākāpō Adoption Birds
Half of the chicks from this record-breaking kākāpō breeding season have fledged and left their nests for good, but are still being fed by their mums. The tally of living chicks ha…
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34 min
Kākāpō Files II 16 | Kākāpō Chicks Growing Up
The tally of confirmed living kākāpō chicks goes down with two further deaths, but gets a welcome boost with the confirmation of a living chick in a previously inaccessible nest. T…
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36 min
Kākāpō Files II 15 | Kākāpō Island Diary
Alison Ballance spends a week on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, one of three kākāpō breeding islands. She follows rangers from DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme as they go about their da…
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33 min
Kākāpō Files II 14 | Biggest Kākāpō Breeding Season
DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme says that the 2026 kākāpō breeding season is officially the biggest on record, and that all chicks have now hatched. At least 256 eggs were laid in…
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30 min
Kākāpō Files II 13 | Kākāpō Birth Notices
DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme is thrilled to announce the births of 101 kākāpō chicks, with a few more fertile eggs expected to hatch over the next few days. However, kākāpō cons…
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31 min
Kākāpō Files II 12 | Lots of Kākāpō Babies
The number of kākāpō chicks has climbed to 54, with plenty more fertile eggs still to hatch on Whenua Hou and Pukenui/Anchor Island. Remote monitoring technology shows that seven k…
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21 min
Kākāpō Files II 11 | Kākāpō Baby Boom
Fourteen kākāpō chicks have hatched in wild nests, where they are being cared for by mums and foster mums. More than a hundred viable fertile eggs have already been laid, with more…
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20 min
Kākāpō Files II 10 | The First Chick
The first chick of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season has successfully hatched on Pukenui/Anchor Island. DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme reports that Tiwhiri-A1-2026 hatched in foster…
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10 min
Kākāpō Files II 09 | Nesting Time
Almost 90% of adult female kākāpō of breeding age have mated so far this breeding season, and two thirds of those are nesting. Some birds have already laid a full clutch of eggs an…
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15 min
Kākāpō Files II 08 | Peak Breeding
More than three-quarters of female kākāpō of breeding age have mated so far, and the number of nests is growing rapidly. Kākāpō operations manager Deidre Vercoe tells Alison Ballan…
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21 min
Kākāpō Files II 07 | Full Steam Ahead
The 2026 kākāpō breeding season is all systems go: nearly half of the females of breeding age have mated and so far 15 females are nesting. Technical Advisor Daryl Eason talks abou…
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17 min
Kākāpō Files II 06 | Kākāpō Action Heating Up
There have been 24 kākāpō matings so far, and the number is increasing as mating action heats up on all three breeding islands. Deidre Vercoe, from the Kākāpō Recovery Programme, t…
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21 min
Kākāpō Files II 05 | The First Nest
Early bird Pearl has laid the first eggs of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season but Kākāpō Recovery Programme science advisor Andrew Digby tells Alison Ballance that it’s too soon to k…
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15 min
Kākāpō Files II 04 | Any Minute Now
It’s the New Year and we’re in the early days of a big kākāpō breeding season. Daryl Eason from the Kākāpō Team tells Alison Ballance that Esperance and Ian are the second kākāpō t…
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17 min
Kākāpō Files II 03 | Kākāpō Countdown
It’s nearly the New Year and we’re counting down to the start of a big kākāpō breeding season. Island ranger Maddy Whittaker tells Alison Ballance that Pearl and Boss are the first…
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18 min
Kākāpō Files II 02 | Meet the Team
It’s the summer solstice and we are waiting for kākāpō breeding to begin. Alison Ballance chats with island ranger Maddy Whittaker, who reports that on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island al…
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26 min
Kākāpō Files II 01 | The Birds are Back
The Kākāpō Files returns for a second season, to follow everyone’s favourite parrot through what is predicted to be the biggest breeding season on record. In episode 1, host Alison…