Kaka is one of New Zealand’s endemic parrot species. Here are 6 kaka facts to teach you a bit more about this special native bird.
I love going for a walk or hike anywhere in New Zealand. The walks in this country are so spectacular and varied, such as the diverse Heaphy Track, the Pouakai Crossing, or Tunnel Beach. The scenery is always nice and a huge bonus is the wildlife, both what is there and what is not there. I don’t have to be wary of snakes or big mammals. Instead I can amble along looking and listening for birds, insects, and lizards. One of the birds that I haven’t seen a lot due to living in Taranaki, but I’m always stoked to see, is the kaka.
6 Kaka Facts – Endemic Forest Parrot
The kaka is a medium to large sized parrot, measuring 38 – 44 cm. That makes it slightly smaller than the other two native parrots, the kea and kakapo. It’s close in height to the kea, but weighs less. This parrot is mainly a brown colour with some reddish tint to the feathers on its belly and bottom. When flying it makes a loud call that sounds like its name, ‘ka-kaaa’.
Kaka resembles kea, but there are a few ways to tell them apart. First, this bird can be found mainly in the forests in contrast to the kea, which is more often found in alpine areas. Secondly, the colouring differs. Kaka is more brown while kea is more greenish. Finally, look at the size. The kaka is slightly smaller.
This parrot lives in mature native forest, both broadleaf-podocarp and beech. Kaka nests are in tree holes, which make them vulnerable to ship rats, mustelids, and possums. They mainly breed in spring and summer. They lay 4-5 eggs, which the female incubates. The male sticks around, feeding the female during this time, which may be nearly a month long.
This bird used to be abundant, but hunting and predation by the introduced mammalian predators (rats and mustelids) have reduced the population to around 10,000. The main predator that appears to decimate their populations is the stoat. Kaka populations on islands without stoats thrive.
Kaka can be found in small numbers across the North and South Island in mature native forest. They are sometimes seen in other habitats as they travel from one area to another. They are common on Aotea/Great Barrier Island (where I was lucky enough to see flocks of them flying around), Ulva Island (off Rakiura/Stewart Island), and some other smaller islands. Conservation efforts have proven successful as the birds were reintroduced to Zealandia ecosanctuary in Wellington and they are now thriving around the area.
Kaka eat a variety of food from trees including seeds, fruit, nectar, sap and insects that live in the wood of the trunk. Most of their food is found in the canopy of trees, bringing them into competition with possums.
These birds use their powerful beaks to rip off strips of bark from a tree to look for sap and insects underneath. Removing the bark from the trunk of the tree makes the tree vulnerable to disease and can lead to death. Thus, it’s thought that kaka played a role in significant role in forest regeneration by speeding up the death of old trees, thereby allowing new trees to grow up.
These forest birds can travel quite long distances. Studies have shown that kaka on three islands separated by 25 km of water are one population as they travel between the islands. Also, kaka from Kapiti Island sometimes travel up the coast towards Taranaki during winter before returning to Kapiti to breed.