Kea

Stunning images of New Zealand http://www.nhc.net.nz/

New Zealand home of "The Lord of the Rings" was the last large landmass to be discovered as seen in the Pure New Zealand video. Resultant of developing in isolation we have thousands of unique species. GB has only two as a comparison. 11% of the world's endangered species are from New Zealand.

Distribution: Generally 600 to 2000m in the South Island from Nelson to Fiordland. They tend to spend winter at lower altitudes and then move up their alpine range in Spring to Autumn feeding on seasonal berries and so forth. It is believed that Kea also inhabited the Chatam Islands and the North Island at one stage.

Diet: The Kea eat berries and nectar of rata, flax, coprosma and totara. Also insects, buds, windscreen wipers and plant roots.

Breeding: Breeding age of Kea is usually 3 years and breeding occurs from July through to January.
The nest sites are usually on the ground in a crack or hole of a tree root system. The nest chamber is usually lined with moss, lichens, leaves and so forth. 2-4 eggs are incubated by the female for around a month. The young stay in the nest for between 2 1/2 to 3 months.

General: The Kea is about the size of a sulphur Crested Cockatoo, up to 50cm. There's not much difference visually between the male and female except the male generally has a more curved beak. The young Kea has a pale yellow lower mandible and cere. They are related to the kaka (Nestor meridionalis)

The Kea is a bird of immense character, mischievous, bold, curious and generally friendly. They're also rated as one of the most intelligent birds anywhere and individuals learn to solve problems, usually to do with food they should not be getting. See the video on the main bird page of a kea solving problems. The Kea is an excellent flyer but hops sideways on the ground comically. They express little fear and will trash all the easy rubber on your car for something to do. They are notorious for making themselves at home in alpine lodges and cafes where they try their luck for cup cakes and pies. Once inside the they can be hard to remove if determined to stay put. The Kea is endemic to New Zealand and the wild population was estimated by doc at 2000 to 5000.

Photos Generously provided by Steve Reekie ©

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• pure
• kea
• parrot
• new
• zealand
• mountain
• lord
• of
• the
• rings

[PottyEsq]

This is very cool !

I love what you've done with my photos.

Cheers!

[clickthisway]

Thanks! Sad to see that even the common old kea now number a fraction of what they once were - just a couple of decades ago!

[Iisnotbob]

a beautiful and majestic bird.