Odd name for an equally odd bird.  The New Zealand Kea to be precise.  The Kea is one of only 10 types of parrot found in New Zealand, and the only Alpine parrot in the world.  These lovely olive green parrots can be found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand.  It has a brilliant orange coloring under the wings, dull blue feathers on the wings and tail, and has a very large narrow curved beak.  Kea are omnivorous (or also known as the New Zealand garbage can), because they do eat carrion (carcasses of dead animals).  The Kea feeds on more than 40 plant species, and their diet consists mainly of roots, leaves, berries, nectar and insects.  The New Zealand Kea also eat other birds and mammals (including sheep and rabbits), plus they will not turn you down if you offer them French fries and burgers. In captivity the the New Zealand Kea  are generally fed butter, nuts, apples, carrots, grapes, mangoes, figs, bread, dairy products, meat and pasta.

The New Zealand Kea are frequent visitors to Ski-resorts, they in turn attracted to the ‘people life’ who despite signs saying not to, will feed these birds (or in many cases the birds will help themselves to what it pleases, including passports and sunglasses).  Recent studies have shown that although far from ideal, these ‘human fed’ birds have a higher body weight than those on a ‘wild’ diet and produce slightly above average number of eggs.  So thankfully, on this occasion ‘human’ interference has a good outcome.

The New Zealand Kea was once killed for bounty due to concerns by the sheep farming community that it attacked livestock, especially sheep.  In 1986 the Kea received full protection and numbers are slowly climbing again. The New Zealand Kea nests in burrows or crevices among the roots of trees and are known for their intelligence and curiosity.  Both traits are vital for their survival. The New Zealand Kea are able to solve logical puzzles, like pushing and pulling things in a certain order to get to food and are known to work together to achieve a certain objective. Whether that objective is just for pleasure or survival is sometimes in question, because Kea have a reputation for removing the rubber from around car windows and ‘stealing’ items from visitors to their habitat (one such incident involved a Scottish tourist who saw his passport be ‘escorted’ off into the mountains never to be seen again.  I wonder how he explained that to his Embassy!).

The genus ‘Nestor’ contains four species;  The New Zealand Kaka (Nestor meridionalis), the Kea (Nestor Notabillis) and the extinct Norfolk Kaka & Chatham Kaka.  All thought to stem from a species that dwelled in the forests of New Zealand five million years ago.  The Kea’s closest relative is the Kakapo. A gathering or group of New Zealand Kea is aptly named ‘a circus’ as these birds can often been observed tumbling and ‘playing’ like kittens.

New Zealand Kea, the alpine parrot is a large parrot of about 48 cm long (19 in) and weighs 0.8-1 kg (1.8-2.2lb). Kea are not found in the North Island of New Zealand in the wild, although fossil evidence suggests a population lived there over 10,000 years ago.  As for the number of Kea in the wild, the estimates range from 5,000 to 15,000, this is because of the Kea’s widespread distribution at low density and often inaccessible areas prevents an accurate ‘head’ count.  In an area in the South Island called ‘Athur’s Pass’ around 10% of the local Kea are expected to be over 20 years of age.  The oldest captive Kea was 50 years old in 2008.

About the Author :

 Monica Toretto is a writer, painter, photographer and blogger. She lives with her two young sons in Invercargill near Bluff. She has travelled widely in Canada and the US and worked as a veterinary technician before returning to New Zealand. Her work has appeared in several magazines in the UK and New Zealand. She has also authored a book of poetry and photography called ‘Words’.