Endangered
Kea
Nestor notabilis
The Kea is a large parrot in the family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand.
Appearance
It has mostly olive-green plumage: the feathers on the sides of its face are dark olive-brown, the back and rump feathers are orange-red, and some of the outer wing feathers are dull blue. The Kea has orange feathers on the undersides of its wings, and a short, broad, bluish-green tail with a black tip. Feather shafts project at the tip of the tail and the undersides of the inner tail feathers have yellow-orange transverse stripes.
The Kea is a large parrot measuring 46 to 50 cm (18 to 20 in) in length, with some specimens possibly reaching 55 cm (22 in).
Published measurements include mass about 956.
Range and habitat
The Kea is one of nine living endemic parrot species in New Zealand. The Kea's range is from lowland river valleys and coastal forests of the South Island's west coast up to alpine regions of the South Island such as Arthur's Pass and Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park. It is closely associated throughout its range with the southern beech (Nothofagus) forests on alpine ridges.
The Kea is a large parrot in the family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. Some are calling for Kea to be reintroduced into predator-free zones on the North Island.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
It has been observed breaking open shearwater nests to feed on the chicks after hearing the chicks in their nests. In one study, nest sites occurred at a density of one per 4.4 square kilometres (1.7 sq mi).
The breeding areas are most commonly in southern beech (Nothofagus) forests, located on steep mountainsides. Breeding at heights of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above sea level and higher, it is one of the few parrot species in the world to regularly spend time above the tree line.
In crisis
A study of Kea numbers in Nelson Lakes National Park showed a substantial decline in the population between 1999 and 2009, caused primarily by predation of Kea eggs and chicks. The pesticide 1080 is used to control invasive pest mammals such as stoats and possums and has also been implicated in Kea deaths. In September 2011, hidden cameras caught Kea breaking into baited stoat traps in the Matukituki Valley.
Despite being classified as Nationally Endangered in the New Zealand Threat Classification System and endangered in the IUCN Red List and protected by law, Kea are still deliberately shot. If the recorded Kea are banded, it is possible to match observations with individual named birds, enabling the monitoring of the habits and behaviour of individual Kea.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix II. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Kea is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Kea, Wikidata item Q193337. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
