New Zealand’s 3 parrot species include the kaka, kea, and kakapo. Here are some facts about these 3 endemic bird species and a hysterical video.
The islands of New Zealand are home to a wonderful variety of truly unique plants and animals. A couple of the iconic trees are Pohutukawas covered in red blooms and giant kauri trees that tower over the forest. Wingless insects, weta, live in caves, trees, and the ground. There are also frogs that don’t croak and birds that don’t fly. There are so many unique species not seen elsewhere in the world that it’s hard to pick just one or two as being the most truly New Zealand. Having said that, I do think that the 3 endemic parrot species are truly memorable.
New Zealand’s 3 Parrots
New Zealand is home to 3 large parrots and a number of smaller parakeets. In this post I’m just covering the 3 large parrots. One is the only alpine parrot in the world (kea). Another is among the largest and longest living parrots in the world (kakapo), and the other lives in forests.
I can recall just about every time that I’ve encountered one of these parrots in the wild. I will say that I haven’t yet been fortunate enough to see a kakapo in the wild, so that’s on my bucket list.
My first closeup experience of kea was on the Kepler track. On the second day, an epic day of hiking that follows a long ridge top overlooking Fiordland we came across a couple of kea hanging out on boulders. They just hung out and let us get right next to them. Later we learned that kea are super cheeky and we had to remain vigilant of our gear.
I’ve only seen kaka a handful of times or so, but one of the memorable experiences was on Great Barrier Island. Walking along the Aotea Track we saw and heard a flock of kaka flying overhead.
Kaka
This parrot lives in forested areas, mainly native forest in central parts of the North Island, scattered bits of the South Island, and offshore islands (such as Great Barrier Island).
The population of this medium sized bird has been greatly reduced due to forest clearance and stoat predation, especially females while sitting on the nest.
The kaka is an olive/brown colour with white on the top of its head and red underwing and a crimson belly.
Kea
This is the only alpine parrot in the world. It lives in the alpine area up high in mountains and has become a frequent visitor to areas that humans visit, such as huts and ski fields. These birds are very curious. Be careful though because these birds will steal stuff from your bag or your lunch.
The kea is about the same size as the kaka, but the colouring differs and they live in different habitats. Kea are an olive/green colour and make a loud call that sounds like, ‘keee…aaaahhh’.
Kakapo
This is a very large parrot, measuring up to 63 cm. It is believed that these birds can live up to 60 years.
These birds used to live all over the country, but now can only be found on predator free islands.
Unfortunately, since this bird lives on the ground and doesn’t evade predators it is very susceptible to introduced predators. Thus, since people arrived in New Zealand the population of this bird dropped to around 50 species. Thanks to huge efforts to bring back the birds, the population is recovering and there are now over 200 species!
Here is an unforgettable video of a kakapo attempting to mate a cameraman.