Monday 7 January 2008

Kea

 
While compiling one of my occasional ‘Useless facts and trivia’ lists I came across the following:-

The two-foot long bird called a Kea that lives in New Zealand likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows.

Since GB is in New Zealand at the moment I decided this might not be quite so useless as it first appeared and investigated further. It seems that his car is safe at the moment because the Kea is only found in the uplands of South Island.
Quote from Wikipedia - The Kea (Nestor notabilis) is an unusual species of parrot (family Psittacidae) found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. The Kea is one of the few recorded alpine parrots in the world, and includes carrion in an omnivorous diet consisting mainly of roots, leaves, berries, nectar and insects. Now uncommon, the Kea was once killed for bounty as it preyed on livestock, especially sheep, only receiving full protection in 1986.
Kea are legendary for their intelligence and curiosity, both vital to their survival in a harsh mountain environment. Most people only encounter wild Kea at South Island ski areas. The Kea are attracted by the prospect of food scraps from human habitation. Their curiosity leads them to peck and carry away unguarded items of clothing, or to prise apart rubber parts of cars - to the entertainment and annoyance of human observers.

1 comment:

  1. I have met many Keas in my visits to South Island. They are quite fearless and fearsome creatures. June had the windscreen rubber stripped from her car. I will eventually be doing a posting about them too.

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