The New Zealand Kakapo, (Strigops habroptila) is perhaps the strangest bird unfamiliar to you. Think of a cross between a parrot and a Dodo only smaller. They are unique parrots that have their own tribe designation, Strigopini. It is critically endangered and now only lives on isolated islets off the coast, but they once inhabited both main islands in numbers. Like the dodo it is a victim of habitat destruction, flightlessness, and the lack of indigenous predators. The nocturnal creepers are intelligent and long-lived, but their love life is in tatters. Humans have been trying to help in that department with limited success. The good news is that Kakapos have now successfully been artificially inseminated. The New Zealand Department of Conservation announced the world's first successful artificial insemination of a wild bird population. Six female kakapos were inseminated using various sperm storage techniques. Thirty-three chicks were hatched during the 2009 breeding season. These chicks put the number of Kakapos in the world over 100 for the first time in decades. Inbreeding was thought to be a factor in the low fertility rate, so sperm from less dominate males was used to inseminate the females, thus insuring genetic diversity. GREEN KUDOS go to New Zealand for its efforts to preserve the Kakapo.[image credit: evolvingwithdarwin.blogspot.com]