Hopes all the right conditions will mean a bumper breeding season for kakapo

The nocturnal, flightless parrots reproduce in tune with rimu - this year having a mast season of extra growth, which happens every three or four years.

The Department of Conservation says of 83 breeding-aged females - each could produce one chick.

Kakapo Recovery Manager Deidre Vercoe says all the birds wear a transmitter, which records their activity overnight.

She says they can tell who has bred with whom, and when the females settle down to nest.