Kea

[[Image:Kea.JPG]]

[[Image:Kea.JPG]]

'''Size:''' 19 inches (48cm)

'''Size:''' 19 inches (48cm)

Research is being conducted on its ecology and population dynamics. Advocacy is aimed at informing alpine users of ways to minimize adverse impacts and to change the negative image of the species often held by high-country farmers and ski-field operators

Research is being conducted on its ecology and population dynamics. Advocacy is aimed at informing alpine users of ways to minimize adverse impacts and to change the negative image of the species often held by high-country farmers and ski-field operators

'''Breeding:''' Kea are polygamous, with one male attached to multiple females. They nest in holes, under logs or in rocky crevasses. They are accessed by tunnels leading back 1 m to 6 m into a larger chamber, which is furnished with lichens, moss, ferns and rotting wood. The laying period starts in July and reaches into January. Two to five white eggs are laid, with an incubation time of around 21 days, and a brooding period of 94 days. Males feed the females during incubation and after hatching. Birds breed after three or more years.

'''Breeding:''' Kea are polygamous, with one male attached to multiple females. They nest in holes, under logs or in rocky crevasses. They are accessed by tunnels leading back 1 m to 6 m into a larger chamber, which is furnished with lichens, moss, ferns and rotting wood. The laying period starts in July and reaches into January. Two to five white eggs are laid, with an incubation time of around 21 days, and a brooding period of 94 days. Males feed the females during incubation and after hatching. Birds breed after three or more years.

The oldest recorded bird was over 20 years of age.

The oldest recorded bird was over 20 years of age.

In the spring, the Kea digs up large mountain daisies in the alpine grasslands and searches at the edges of the snow mounds and around rocks for low growing plants and insects. In the summer they forage in the alpine shrubs for fruit, seeds and flowers. They feed from rata or mountain flax, lapping up the nectar and pollen and also catch numerous grasshoppers, beetles and grubs. The autumn they spend in the beech forests, eating shoots, leaves and nuts. But the winter is the cruelest time when many die of starvation. They seek animal fat and will tear open carcasses to consume meat and internal organs.

In the spring, the Kea digs up large mountain daisies in the alpine grasslands and searches at the edges of the snow mounds and around rocks for low growing plants and insects. In the summer they forage in the alpine shrubs for fruit, seeds and flowers. They feed from rata or mountain flax, lapping up the nectar and pollen and also catch numerous grasshoppers, beetles and grubs. The autumn they spend in the beech forests, eating shoots, leaves and nuts. But the winter is the cruelest time when many die of starvation. They seek animal fat and will tear open carcasses to consume meat and internal organs.

A Kea stalks through the warren of shearwater nest holes, bending down every now and then, head cocked to listen. The shearwater chicks crouch silently in their burrows but occasionally they call. The Kea reacts swiftly and starts to dig. Using its beak like a mattock it tears away the earth around their burrow’s entrance and reaches inside. The mutton–bird is not entirely defenseless and may squirt fish oil into the Kea’s face. The beak that is so effective as a mattock now becomes a billhook and rips the young shearwater to pieces.

A Kea stalks through the warren of shearwater nest holes, bending down every now and then, head cocked to listen. The shearwater chicks crouch silently in their burrows but occasionally they call. The Kea reacts swiftly and starts to dig. Using its beak like a mattock it tears away the earth around their burrow’s entrance and reaches inside. The mutton–bird is not entirely defenseless and may squirt fish oil into the Kea’s face. The beak that is so effective as a mattock now becomes a billhook and rips the young shearwater to pieces.

The ancestor of the three species of parrot in the genus Nestor, the Kea, its brown cousin the Kaka and their close relative the Norfolk Island Kaka, probably came from Australia. The ancestral Nestor may have arrived in New Zealand as many as 20 million years ago. With climate change and the separation into smaller islands in the early Pleistocene, two distinct populations developed. The population in the more benign north became Kakas specializing in exploiting fruit and nectar while the southern population living in the harsher environment where beech forest dominated, became Keas, developing the behavioral strategies and food preferences that would help them survive among the ice fields. There the Kea remained, an uncommon species of harsh and marginal habitats, no doubt following the great eagle and other predators for leftovers as well as plaguing the millions of petrels and shearwaters who bred on the mainland, until the first wave of humans arrived.

The ancestor of the three species of parrot in the genus Nestor, the Kea, its brown cousin the Kaka and their close relative the Norfolk Island Kaka, probably came from Australia. The ancestral Nestor may have arrived in New Zealand as many as 20 million years ago. With climate change and the separation into smaller islands in the early Pleistocene, two distinct populations developed. The population in the more benign north became Kakas specializing in exploiting fruit and nectar while the southern population living in the harsher environment where beech forest dominated, became Keas, developing the behavioral strategies and food preferences that would help them survive among the ice fields. There the Kea remained, an uncommon species of harsh and marginal habitats, no doubt following the great eagle and other predators for leftovers as well as plaguing the millions of petrels and shearwaters who bred on the mainland, until the first wave of humans arrived.

The second wave of human settlement brought a bonus to the Kea. While the Kaka declined as the bush was felled and burned, the Kea population exploded with the advent of European settlement of the high country during 1840s and 50s. When sheep began to die in snowfields, Keas rediscovered a lucrative livelihood as scavengers and even attacked live sheep. Numbers increased dramatically. This ability to tolerate massive environmental change and make the most of new opportunities sets the Kea apart from nearly every other island species.

The second wave of human settlement brought a bonus to the Kea. While the Kaka declined as the bush was felled and burned, the Kea population exploded with the advent of European settlement of the high country during 1840s and 50s. When sheep began to die in snowfields, Keas rediscovered a lucrative livelihood as scavengers and even attacked live sheep. Numbers increased dramatically. This ability to tolerate massive environmental change and make the most of new opportunities sets the Kea apart from nearly every other island species.