Flightless parrot flies in for Orokonui holiday

Air New Zealand captain Eric Fontein shows Sirocco the cockpit. Photo by Craig Baxter.

They say he doesn't know he's a bird. Sirocco the kakapo thinks he's human.

So it should come as no surprise he got to fly with passengers on an Air New Zealand 737 flight to Dunedin last night rather than in the hold with the luggage.

His minder on the flight, Forest and Bird conservation advocate Nicola Vallance, said he was just another passenger on a busy flight.

"He was fine. He screeched a couple of times; otherwise he was happy to sit there and snack on slices of apples. He's travelled a lot now, so it's not unfamiliar to him. I think he likes the attention, just quietly."

Sirocco, one of only 131 kakapo in the world, arrived in the South last night for a holiday at Orokonui.

The big bird became a YouTube star following his appearance on a BBC documentary and has built a following on Facebook.

He was hand-raised after catching a respiratory illness at the age of 3 weeks, an ordeal which left him not realising he was a bird.

Sirocco has since become an advocate for the Department of Conservation.

He now lives on Maud Island, in the Marlborough Sounds, but occasionally travels to enable people to see a kakapo.

So, during the Rugby World Cup, he will go on tour, visiting Orokonui and then Zealandia in Wellington.

Orokonui general manager Chris Baillie said the species was on the brink of extinction just 30 years ago.

"We hope this opportunity to experience Siroccco will inspire everyone to play a part in kakapo recovery."

Before the visit could take place, the ecosanctuary had to sign a deed of agreement with the Department of Conservation, including details around security, safety, comfort and feeding.

He will live in a special enclosure at Orokonui for most of September. The viewing part of the enclosure is surrounded in perspex, allowing people to see him.

The ecosanctuary will run three tours a night to visit the enclosure and has so far sold 500 tickets, about a third of the spots available.