Kākāpō - Night Parrot

On a June night, Snark finally emerges for the first time. But the night he has chosen to come forth is the wrong night … in the wrong century. It’s no longer a land of birds out here [for the] young night parrot.

– Narrator Peter Hayden

I ended up climbing a rock face and spending the night, without a tent, on a steep ridge ... it seemed the last hope of seeing or hearing something. But no bird came, and at five in the morning, I was driven out by a terrible storm, and had to climb down the rock face in the dark. It was a crazy thing to do, and something I'd never repeat. Still, after it was all over, I felt glad in a way that the kākāpō had decided to keep that last secret.

– Director Rod Morris on a fruitless effort to film a kākāpō mating dance, in 1988 book Wild South: Saving New Zealand's Endangered Birds, page 157

In 1977 when the kākāpō were first found on Stewart Island, there were estimated to be about 200. By 1982, the number had shrunk to less than 100. ... The revival of hope which had come with the discovery of the Stewart Island breeding population turned to fear ... In an attempt to enhance survival of chicks, he [Don Merton] proposed a fostering programme.

– Authors Rod Morris and Hal Smith, in 1988 book Wild South: Saving New Zealand's Endangered Birds, page 136