By: Sarah Ell.

Sirocco the Kākāpō is a superstar – he has 10,000+ followers on social media. And you may have seen the incredible footage on YouTube of him trying to mate with a BBC presenter’s head. Not only is he one of the last 126 of his species left on the planet, he has a very special role to play promoting the recovery of his kind and in conservation in general.

This junior non-fiction book tells the story of the remarkable parrot who has become a worldwide sensation. The narrative follows Sirocco’s journey from sick chick to conservation superstar, with sidebars of more specific information about the kakapo and the recovery programme. (From GoodReads)

Note: as of now (March 2026) there are 235 kākāpō with an additional 96 chicks. These chicks won’t be counted in the official population count for a while yet. Kākāpō Recovery post ‘Friday Friday’ photos, with updates of chick details and numbers. They are on Facebook and Instagram.