Latin Name:
Nestor notabilis
Status:
Endangered
Food:
Flowering mountain flax and other trees and shrubs. Berries, fruits, leaves. Also flesh and bone marrow from carcasses on rubbish dumps.
Population:
6000
Distribution:
Confined to native forest in steep side valleys. Also found around human settlements.
Interesting Fact:
They have been known to strip pieces off of cars in carparks and dismantle tents in campgrounds.
Kea Parrot
These unusual parrots are from New Zealand.
They are famous for being curious and intelligent, and came third in the BBC’s ‘Britain’s Cleverest Animal’ programme with filming taking place here at Paradise Park.
Keas are naturally playful in the wild, probably because they had so few ‘enemies’ in New Zealand, so didn’t need fear to survive. The species was only protected from shooting by farmers in 1970, and still has a decreasing population. It is suspected that some birds are poisoned by toxins like lead due to scavenging from rubbish dumps.
Read more about the Kea Parrot on the World Parrot Trust website HERE.
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