As some of the world’s most intelligent birds, kea are extremely inquisitive, appear to enjoy problem-solving and engage in playful activities, seemingly for fun – qualities that endear them to us yet bring them into conflict.
Endemic to New Zealand’s South Island, kea have evolved over millennia to survive harsh alpine conditions. They became omnivores, with sharply curved beaks and claws suited to foraging on berries, seeds and grubs, as well as scavenging the flesh from carcasses. They play an important part in alpine ecosystems, by spreading seeds across the mountain ranges: around 12 per cent of New Zealand’s alpine flora depends on kea.
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With few other sizeable meat-eaters around, kea flourished. Today, however, the birds’ neophilia – their love of new things – has become a double-edged sword, ensuring their survival but also, with the arrival of people, their destruction.
Are keas parrots?
Yes the kea belongs to the parrot family
How big are kea birds?
Kea birds are usually between 46-50cm in length (males are up to 20 per cent larger than females) with a one metre plus wingspan. Males weigh 960g while females weigh 780g
What do kea birds look like?
Kea birds are olive-green overall with black scalloping' to feather edges, blue primary feathers and orange-red underwings. Juveniles have a yellow area around their eyes, bill and nostrils, which fades to black by 3-4 years of age.
Where do keas live?
Keas live in the Alpine regions of New Zealand's South Island; now largely confined to reserves and national parks. They favour mountainous areas, including high meadows, scrub, forest and scree slopes. Often found near to humans; sometimes descends to coastal lowlands
What do kea birds eat?
They enjoy an extremely varied, featuring a wide range of plant and animal matter - including meat.
How long do keas live?
The oldest known captive individual lived for 50 years.
Are keas at risk of extinction?
Yes IUCN has them down as vulnerable to extinction with the population decreasing.
Why have keas declined?
Ironically, the birds' inquisitive side, which has made them so well adapted to life in tough environment, has also played a part in their massive population decline.
European settlers came in the 1860s, but kea’s problems really began with the introduction of sheep farming. They garnered a reputation for being pests: kea relish high-energy foods, such as fat, and soon learned to cut through the backs of sheep to reach the fat around their livers. As a result, the government introduced a bounty of 10 shillings (equivalent to NZ$120 today, or approximately £62.50) for every kea killed. Around 150,000 kea were exterminated between the 1860s and 1970.
The settlers also brought invasive predators with them, in the form of stoats and rats from Europe, brushtail possums from Australia, and domestic cats. With plentiful dense forests and abundant food, the alien mammals thrived, soon threatening many of New Zealand’s ground-nesting native birds. Kea nest in burrows, so were vulnerable. Yet the species did not become legally protected until 1986.
Nowadays, kea face a whole host of other threats to their survival too. Bruce McKinlay of the country’s Department of Conservation (DOC) explains: “Kea can adapt their behaviour to explore new things in their environment very quickly. However, from an evolutionary perspective, humans and kea have only shared the land for the blink of an eye. People bring objects into the environment and create situations
that kea are not really biologically equipped to handle.”
Mark Brabyn, one of the initiators of a citizen-science project called the Kea Database, agrees. “Kea see wires and power lines, and want to know what’s inside them. Three birds were electrocuted in the Temple Basin ski pass area recently. Another serious issue is cars. Five kea were hit by vehicles in Arthur’s Pass last year. Kea like a high-protein, high-fat diet, so when a tanker filled with cream turned over and spilt its contents all over the road, it naturally attracted the birds.”
It is this scavenging, curious behaviour that puts the birds at risk. “It makes kea reliant on hand-outs from people, which isn’t necessarily good for them,” says Mark. “Several types of human food, such as chocolate, are poisonous to the birds. Yet people offer them chocolate quite regularly, and kea have even learned to steal it from kiosks in the ski areas.”
The other issue is waste packaging, which kea can easily eat while scavenging for food. “I’ve seen photographs of kea with their guts full of wrappers, plastic and other rubbish,” he adds.
The scavenging is not just limited to food – lead poisoning is an unusual but unfortunately common cause of death in these alpine parrots. “Kea are attracted to lead flashings found on the old buildings here, but when they peel it off they can get lead poisoning,” says Mark. “For some reason, lead tastes sweet to them.” The Kea Conservation Trust has an ongoing project to identify, remove and replace all lead on buildings in South Island. It also tests kea for lead levels in their bodies so that treatment can be given before it’s too late.