Eggs joy for rare kakapo

A flurry of activity on a remote island means at least four kakapo chicks are expected this season.

At least five matings of the birds were observed by Department of Conservation staff on Codfish Island, off the coast of Stewart Island, last week. The ground-dwelling parrots do not breed every season.

While this season could never hope to match the bumper crop of 26 chicks born in 2002, staff were thrilled the birds looked likely to produce young this year, said DoC spokesman Bernie Napp.

"After losing three chicks last year, it would be a big boost for the kakapo recovery team," he said.

The chicks died of a virus after the department shifted juvenile birds to nearby Chalky Island from Codfish in an effort to find them a new home.

Scientists are concerned that having almost all the birds in one place could see them wiped out entirely if disaster strikes.

Kakapo are one of the world's rarest parrots, their population numbering just 83. A Comalco-sponsored recovery plan was implemented in 1995 after numbers dropped to 51.