Animals in New Zealand (2) - kea, endangered parrot criminals

carinewhy (66)in #steemstem • 6 years ago (edited)

jlky_arr_flickr_kea_summit_of_avalanche_peak-resized-600.jpg

(http://blog.gmedical.com/Locums-for-a-Small-World/bid/104416/The-kea-the-cheeky-bird-New-Zealanders-love-to-hate)

In my previous post, I mentioned I saw a kea on my way to Milford Sound. Kea is an endangered parrot. I had no idea of how naughty is it until I saw @laxmi6 's comment:

LOL, rubber eating disturbance, SO INTERESTING! I need to find out more info about this creature!

Kea is the only mountain parrot in the world, it can only be found in the South Island of New Zealand. Kea is super curious and smart, even called cheeky. I decided to call it a criminal after I know their "achievements". BTW, like the word "sheep", the world "kea" is also both singular and plural.

The crimes that kea committed

1- Theft and robbery

It is reported kea learnt to get into doors and windows or undo their packs to steal food! Except food, they even steal things that they absolutely do not need!!!!!

In 2009, a kea stole a passport from a Scottish tourist in a tour bus. (Click here to read the news.)

In 2013, a kea stole £600 from a tourist in car.( Click here read the news.)

(https://sydkab.com/2012/01/29/keas/)

2- Vandalism

Kea love something soft or/and shinny to play with. Kea is famous for vandalizing cars, they strip rubber from windscreens and break off wing mirrors. It is called “a devilish mountain parrot feared by hire car companies.”. Besides cars, they also damage tents, building and other private properties.

It is a video of kea attacking a car

Here is a video shows 2 kea even dare to attack a police car.

(https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/www.pinterest.co.uk/amp/pin/512354895080317736/)

After know their "achievements", let me tell more about this animal to all of you briefly!

Introduction

Kea are about 48 cm tall, mainly in olive-green colour, some feathers of the outter wings are blue, and it is orange in the underwings. Again, kea can only be found in South Island, New Zealand. They distribute dispersedly across Kahurangi to Fiordland and the Kaikoura Ranges.

Kea are opportunistic omnivores, they eat a wide range of food. They eat berries, roots, buds, seeds, small animals, insects and worms, beech seed is an important food source of kea. They scavenge on dead animals and birds eggs. They are also used to feeding on food and garbage from human.

(https://www.itsnature.org/air/birds-air/kea/)

The name kea comes from Maori which refers to the sound "keeee aaaa" the bird makes, you can here the sound in this video.

Kea is endangered, it's population is estmated about 6,000.

Why are they so cheeky?

Kea are living in alpine environment which is hard to find food. Their curiosities are evolutionary responses over millions of years, so that they keep exploring food source and learn new knowledge. Because of this reason, they love to investigate new things so they are always attracted to human and their properties. They are interested in soft and pliable stuff, and container of food. They created damage when exploring. Because of its cheeky acts, it is named the Clown of the Alps.

(http://cleangreen.co.nz/wordpress/?m=201409)

Structural adaptations to live in mountains

The thick plumage feathers keeps kea warm in cold weather. The green feathers act a camouflage when they are in beech forest. Their curved strong beaks and sharp claws makes them able to help them break things to obtain food and tear flesh from small animals. The digestive tract of kea enables them to obtain energy from a wide variety of food.

How intellegent are they?

Kea are very good at problem solving. They are found able to use tools and solve logical puzzles. They are able to teach what they have learnt to other kea.

Here is a video of a kea solving a puzzle

Taxonomy

Kea has a scientific name Nestor notabilis. The genus Nestor included, the New Zealand kaka, kea, Norfolk kaka (extinct), and Chatham kaka (extinct) . They are considered stem from a "proto-kākā", living in the forests of New Zealand five million years ago.Their closest relative is the flightless parrot, kakapo. They form the parrot family, Strigopoidea, within the avian order Psittaciformes (with parrots and cockatoos).

New Zealand was saperated from Gondwana 80 million years ago, the Strigopidae lineage diverged from those of other parrots.

Probably,the divergence of the Nestor genus into the kea and kaka occurred some 1 – 4 million years ago when ice ages and the uplift of Southern Alps occured.

436px-Nestoridae_phylogeography.svg.png
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_parrot)

Why endangered?

Kea were hated by farmers as the sometimes attack sheep for the fat. It is estimated that 150,000 kea were killed by farmer which decreased the number of kea drastically. As kea is fully protected since 1970s, we are not allowed to harm them now.

Now, kea are treatened by non-native mammalian predators. Kea build their nest on the ground, two-thirds of all chicks were found never reaching fledgling as they are eaten by stoats, rats and possums. 1080 pesticide was used to kill the predators, some kea were killed by the poison.

Old building material contain lead. As kea love to investigate, the lead in the building material kills kea when eaten.

(http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/kea)