New Zealand's Kea parrot!

[Mare]

My daughter's in New Zealand on a five week vacation backpacking trip (I'm so jealous :) ) and she posts photos of her adventures on my FB page. Here is a Kea parrot. I wish I could get her video to come up..I'll keep trying with that one, the birds are all over her car trying to pull off the rubber for their nests!
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[kendrafitz]

Very cool Mare!!! I'm jealous too!!

I have never seen this parrot before. I would love to see the video. It must be funny!

[spiritbird]

Suggest you write up a species profile so we know more. Cool looking bird.

[Mare]

The kea (/ˈkiː.ə/; Māori: [kɛ.a]; Nestor notabilis) is a large species of parrot of the superfamily Strigopoidea found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About 48 cm (19 in) long, it is mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange under its wings and has a large, narrow, curved, grey-brown upper beak. The kea is the world's only alpine parrot. Its omnivorous diet includes carrion,[2] but consists mainly of roots, leaves, berries, nectar, and insects. Now uncommon, the kea was once killed for bounty due to concerns by the sheep-farming community that it attacked livestock, especially sheep.[3] It received full protection in 1986.[4]

The kea nests in burrows or crevices among the roots of trees. Kea are known for their intelligence and curiosity, both vital to their survival in a harsh mountain environment. Kea can solve logical puzzles, such as pushing and pulling things in a certain order to get to food, and will work together to achieve a certain objective.[5] They have been filmed preparing and using tools.[6]

I find fascinating that the kea is the world's only alpine parrot! The video my daughter took is in snow ridden mountains!

[Lady]

Wow what a stunning creature! How awesome to see one live. Thanks for sharing this Mare!

[Mare]

You're welcome, Alice! My daughter will be home next Monday, I'll get her to help me post her video. The birds seem pretty gregarious, not too afraid of people,,kind of like a cockatoo, :th_eek: OH MY!!

[plax]

I've copied post #4 to the Featured Avian Species Profiles section. Thanks Mare :)

[Animalman2046]

Mare very interesting thanks for sharing. Your daughter is so lucky.

[spiritbird]

Does this bird fly? Looks to be a ground bird.

[Mare]

I'll assume they fly, Dianne, they flew to the top of her car! :). Once I get the video up, though, you'll see them on the ground running around.

My daughter has also got to experience the little Blue Penguin. They come on shore around this small little town, to mate, I'll try and get you some of those pics, too :)

[Mare]

Here are a couple of pics from my daughter, these were taken in small town called Oamaru. The little Blue Penguins come in to mate. I'll look up some details on them, soon!
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This is a pic of the mating ritual![Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

I'm sure they've gotta be thinking.."Damn, tourists!"

[Mare]

Little Blue Penguin


Little Blue Penguin Facts – Fairy Penguin Facts
Eudyptula minor
The Little Blue Penguin is one quite small compared to other species. In fact, it is due to this small size that it is also referred to as the Fairy Penguin. It is the smallest of all the penguins in the world. It can weigh up to 3 pounds and it would be taller than 13 inches. They have a deep blue coloring to them which is why they have been named the Little Blue Penguin. This blue color is on top of their head and all down their back side. The front is white.
Distribution
The majority of Little Blue Penguins are found in Australia. Other places they have made their home include New Zealand and Chile. A small number of them have been identified around Tasmania as well.
Behavior
The colonies are well defined for the Little Blue Penguin. They will live in it almost all year long. Each mating pair has a burrow that they maintain. They will return to the same nesting area year after year. They are highly social with each other in the colony as well.
Diet /Feeding
Since these penguins are so small, they don’t need very much food on a daily basis. They consume very small fish, krill, and squid. They are also known to dive in shallow waters and to consume what they find there. They tend to be inshore hunters as long as there is enough of a food supply for them to do so. Yes, they are able to deep 20 m.
Reproduction
At about three years of age, the Little Blue Penguin is ready to mate. They will choose one mate and remain with them for the rest of their lives. There are some reports though of finding a new mate if a partner dies. The mating process takes place around June of each year. There are complex rituals that the males go through in order to get the females interested in the act.
Generally, the females will lay two eggs. They must be incubated for a period of five weeks before they hatch. It is possible for the females to lay more eggs up through August of the same year. This is why the young are forced to leave their parents when they are from 57 to 80 days old.
Fairy Penguin information
Little Penguin – Eudyptula minor
As a result, many of these young Little Blue Penguins aren’t able to survive. They become prey for a variety of predators out there both in then water and out. They include seals, sharks, weasels, snakes, rats and foxes. They are also know to get tangled up in fishing nets in the waters as they try to hunt for their own sources of food.
Conservation
The life span for the Little Blue Penguin in the wild isn’t very long. On average they will live about 6 ½ years. Since they don’t breed until at least three years of age, there are concerns about reproduction numbers. Each male and female will only have the opportunity to mate a couple of times before their own life ends.
Human Interaction
Human interactions with the Little Blue Penguins have helped them to live longer. There are plenty of places where they are in captivity and living up to 20 years. In such environments, humans continue to observe them to learn more about this particular species of penguin.
There are some locations where humans can observe the Little Blue Penguin in a natural habitat. For example the Philip Island Nature Park in Australia offers a great place to watch them in what has become known as the nightly penguin parade. This is when they are returning back to their burrows.

[Lady]

Wow, humans actually improved on their life span in captivity. Great information Mare thanks.

[Mare]

You're welcome, Alice! :th_smile:

[2birds]

Wow, very cool birds. Thanks for letting us see these Mare

[Mare]

I'm glad you enjoyed, Lori! I can't wait for you to see the video! :)

[Mare]

Here is the video from my daughters trip, enjoy


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[Mare]

I'm assuming that Tony fixed this format for me :). Thank you!

[plax]

I'm assuming that Tony fixed this format for me :). Thank you!Yes, you've guessed right, Mare.. and you're welcome :). They're sure bold little guys, aren't they? And they're very cute as well! I like them :D. But when I played the clip, the wind noise scared Zaf enough to make him hightail it off of my shoulder and run away from the computer as quickly as possible. He finally came back and watched the rest of it with me, though.

[Mare]

Yes, the wind noise is definite! Sorry about that, Zaffers :). They sure ARE bold, aren't they?! Kate says they just don't seem to be bothered by humans,,maybe because there just aren't that many humans around to bother them!

[plax]

Yes, and the humans in that area may simply be non-threatening to them in any way as well.

[kendrafitz]

Wow, that is awesome. So crazy how unafraid and outgoing they are.

Beautiful mountains!!

[Mare]

Kate's getting ready to set us up with another video of these birds,,hang on..

[Mare]

This is the first one the girls saw, I'm telling my daughter's tale here, and she says that they had pulled over to the side of the road and was afraid of spooking the bird so was moving slow and being quiet..the bird came trotting up to them..totally unafraid!


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[Mare]

I'm guessing that there aren't many predators in their area, didn't the kiwi bird come from New Zealand? Now extinct?

[plax]

Those Kea Parrots are very cool... I love their easy going manner :D. Thanks for sharing the vids!

I don't think Kiwi birds are extinct. I believe they're only endangered.

[Lady]

Oh the videos are excellent. How beautiful these birds are, and their beak surely is strong to be tearing cars apart. Very adaptable guys to live in the mountains.

Thanks Mare to you and your daughter for sharing them with us. She didn't happen to find any lose feathers laying around to bring home?

[Mare]

No, Alice,, I wish!