Kakapo.

Kakapo! Kakapo! These parrots of New Zealand are unique as one of the few nocturnal parrots in the world and is the only flightless parrots in the world, they are are fascinating, indeed. Today I'll share a couple interesting facts about them...

First, they're evolutionary history. They supposedly spit from other parrot species when Gondwanaland broke from Pangea (supposedly Pangea spit into and land mass called Laurasia composed of what is now N. America / Europe / Asia in the North, and everything else fell into Gondwanaland). Anyway. In the break, ancestors of the Kakapo inhabited islands that were free of mammals and other potential predators. This led to their loss of flight -- they lost their need to escape quickly from most situations.

The second notable thing of them is a bit of bad news -- their status in the world. There are only 125 known living Kakapo; so few that most even have individual names so it's easy for scientists to reference. On top of that, they have been moved to new islands to protect them from predators; something controversial yet seems to be one of the few remaining options. This is especially unfortunate as it is clear they are important to the Maori people, as it's often a legendary bird in traditional storytelling.

From the pictures, you can see that their feathers are pretty wonderful, and their babies look like they could be muppets.