Size: Length; 48cm. Weight; 1kg.

Habitat and Distribution: Keas are only found in the forests and wooded areas of mountains on South Island, New Zealand.

Age: Around 15 years in the wild. The oldest ever recorded Kea in captivity lived to over 50 years old.

Groups and Breeding: These are social birds and live in family groups or gather in groups of 30 to 40 birds in order to forage. Keas breed throughout the year but with a peak from January to June. They have a polygynous mating system which means that one male will mate with a number of females. There is a strict hierarchy and some studies have shown that only 10% of males in a population will breed in any one year.

Nests are made in burrows under rocks or in tree roots and two to four eggs are laid. The eggs hatch after 21to 28 days; during this time the female rarely leaves the nest and the male feeds her. Once the eggs hatch the male continues to feed the female who in turn feeds the young then after a month the male takes over feeding the young. The young fledge after 13 weeks, however, they do not leave the area for another five to six weeks.

Diet: These are omnivorous birds with a diet varying from beech nuts and leaves through to snails, berries, insects, nectar, fruit, carcasses and even wounded sheep.

• A male will persuade a female to mate by feeding her a regurgitated meal. • The Kea gets its name from the call it makes as it flies which sounds like ‘kee-ah’. Their Latin name means a wise old councillor, worthy of note.
• One of the key feeding grounds for groups of Keas are rubbish dumps.
• Keas are thought to be one of the most intelligent birds in the world; they can learn complicated tasks simply by observing others.
• Due to a reputation for attacking sheep, it is thought that over 150,000 Keas were killed before they became protected in 1971. Less than 5,000 birds now exist in the wild and possibly as few as 2,000.