This is the email we sent to Mrs Paterson's nephew Robbie. He designed special feeding boxes for Kakapo. Asking questions of an expert is one of the ways we can research for our inquiry.He emailed back his answers today. We hope you find the answers to our questions, as interesting as we did.
Dear Robbie,
These are our questions about Kakapo. We hope you can answer some of them for us. Thank you for helping us with our research. We are going to make bird feeders so that birds come to our playground. Our school is helping to establish a new reserve near the river and we are going to find out what plants we should plant to get native birds back into town.
From
Room 2
What do you put in the feeding boxes? Emma
Well Emma, Kakapo normally eat the fruit and seeds that the trees drop so we try to feed them food with lots of energy like apple, kumara, almonds and macadamia nuts.
How and what do the kakapo drink. Micahla
Great question Micahla, they have a bowl on a post that has a lid to stop the other birds from getting in. they put their faceup to it and use their beak to open the door. Then they scoop a beak-full out and slurp it back.
Why did you feed the Kakapo? Jone
Because there are so few Kakapo (91) we try to make sure there is nothing to prevent them from laying eggs. We make sure that they have plenty of food so they when they do lay their eggs they can sit on them for as long as possible without getting up to eat. If they have eaten plenty of food, they don’t need to leave the nest.
How do kakapo get to their feeding boxes? Shannara
Kakapo are very intelligent birds Shannara and when they know an easy food spot, they keep going back to see if there is more. They have a great sense of smell too. Sort of like the treats in the cupboard at home, we can smell and remember where they are!
Where do kakapo hide? Lily
Usually they can be found under logs and in the forks in trees. They have an amazing smell (like musk perfume) and that’s what gives them away.
What do the feeding boxes look like? Joshua
Good question Josh. The boxes are held up off the ground so that the other birds can’t get in. There are two little bowls with lids that hold the food for the birds to eat from. There is also some scales for them to stand on that records how heavy they are.
How do they open the box? Amelia
The Kakapo put their face up to it and use their beak to open the door. Then they scoop a beak-full out and eat it up.
How do they eat the food? Daryan
Kakapo have a really strong (and sharp!) beak so they can bite through tree shoots out in the wild so the nuts and food we give them is no trouble for them to munch through. They use their big feet to hold on to the nuts while they eat just like we use our hands.
Why aren’t there very many Kakapo eggs? Hadley
Great question! Kakapo live for a very long time and they have only a few eggs each year. Often these eggs don’t hatch so they have to wait till the next year – this means that they don’t have many chicks each year.
How do the tags work? Jack
The tags are really similar to a cellphone. When you are trying to find the birds, you turn on a hand held tool that beeps more the closer you get to the kakapo.
How do they stop other animals getting into the boxes? Jessica M
The lids are locked until the right animal arrives at the hopper. When the right bird is on the scales, the lock releases and lets the Kakapo in.
How do you stop the animals killing the kakapo? Amelia
We have put all the Kakapo on islands that have no animals that could kill them. New Zealand has lots of small islands dotted around its coasts and if we remove the stoats, rats, possums and cats, the Kakapo can live happily
Do any other bird have feeding boxes like the kakapo? Ruby
Yes, we have made feeding boxes for some other birds Ruby. We have made one for Takahe and its pretty easy to make them for tui and bellbirds. These birds really like to eat sweet water so if you add a few spoons of sugar to warm water and stir it, you’ll have birds in no time!
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