📷 Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl · CC BY 2.5
📷 Mark Whatmough
📷 Krzysztof Golik
IUCN: Endangered
Kea
Nestor notabilis
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassAves›OrderPsittaciformes›FamilyNestoridae›GenusNestor
About
Keas are the world’s only truly alpine parrots, living among the snow-covered mountains of New Zealand’s South Island. Olive-green and unassuming at a glance, they flash brilliant orange underwings in flight. Their curiosity is legendary: keas dismantle windscreen wipers, unzip backpacks, and work together to solve puzzles, an intelligence thought to help them scratch out a living in a harsh, unpredictable habitat.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat New Zealand’s mountain forests and alpine scrub, up to snow line
🍃Diet Insects, grubs, roots, berries, seeds, and carrion
📏Size & Weight About 48 cm long; wingspan around 1 m
•Weight 0.7–1.0 kg
⏳Lifespan About 20–50 years in the wild
🗺Range South Island of New Zealand
BirdParrot
Key Facts
⛰Habitat New Zealand’s mountain forests and alpine scrub, up to snow line
🍃Diet Insects, grubs, roots, berries, seeds, and carrion
📏Size & Weight About 48 cm long; wingspan around 1 m
•Weight 0.7–1.0 kg
⏳Lifespan About 20–50 years in the wild
🗺Range South Island of New Zealand
Photo Credits
#1Christian Mehlführer, User:Chmehl · CC BY 2.5
#2Mark Whatmough · CC BY 2.0
#3Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
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