Taxonomy, Systematics and Naming
The Kakapo was originally described by English ornithologist George Robert Gray in 1845. Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek strix, genitive strigos "owl", and ops "face", while its specific epithet comes from habros "soft", and ptilon "feather". It has so many unusual features that it was initially placed in its own tribe, Strigopini. Recent phylogenetic studies have confirmed the unique position of this genus as well as the closeness to the Kākā and the Kea, both belonging to the New Zealand parrot genus Nestor. Together, they are now considered a separate family within the parrots, Strigopidae. Within the Strigopidae, the Kakapo is placed in its own tribe, Strigopini. Earlier ornithologists felt that the Kakapo may be related to the ground parrots and Night Parrot of Australia due to their similar coloration, but this is contradicted by recent studies; rather, the cryptic color seems to be adaptation to terrestrial habits that evolved twice convergently.
The name "Kakapo" is the English transliteration of "kākāpō" which is derived from the Māori terms kākā ("parrot") + pō ("night"). The Polynesian term kākā and its variant ʻāʻā were the generic South Pacific terms for Psittacidae. For example, the native names of the Kākā, the extinct Black-fronted Parakeet (Cyanoramphus zealandicus) of Tahiti, and the New Zealand members of the genus Cyanoramphus are also derived from them.
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