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Project Noah Nature School
Nestor notabilis
A kea, infamous for its can-open beak that it uses to rip into anything it finds. Backpacks, cars, etc.
Spotted on Jun 13, 2011
Submitted on Jun 13, 2011
18 Comments
That bird has huge feet!
Awesome bird!
A carnivorous parrot. Amazing.
Wonderful series!
Amazing bird!
Looks to me like a fledgling or young male Kea. The yellow around the cere and beak are an indication of the youth of the bird. As they grow older, the amount of yellow decreases and when they are fully adult, there will be no yellow colouration left around the beak/cere. Sexing a Kea isn't quite as easy, but male birds are generally noticeably larger than females, and the upper mandible of the male is longer. Great photos though.
If you like the Kea, check out the work done by the Kea Conservation Trust: http://www.keaconservation.co.nz/
great photo + very interesting bird!
And the vast majority of snow-boarders are unarmed.
He looks onary, like a mean old man. :) Very nice spotting, and interesting stories from everyone. Love the pictures.
Thanks for the Spotting
Spotting of the day!
"Kea are known for their intelligence and curiosity, can even solve logical puzzles and work together towards a common goal."
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a very strange but cool looking bird. Love it!
Well.. I was sitting at a car park and watch them tearing the rubber around the windscreen off.. not just the wipers! It was amazing.. They had so much fun..
I was told, visiting glacier country, that we would have no trouble spotting Kea, as they would likely be in the car parks tearing the rubber off of windscreen wipers. NOT TRUE. I never saw one, in the wild or otherwise. Bummer. Guess I'll have to come back. ;)
Great shot, in perfect surroundings, of one of the few Alpine parrot species.
Thanks for sharing with this very special and rare bird. I surprised to know Parrot's bill can be such angular..!!
I like the first picture a lot.
No cars nearby on this trip, we were a day's walk from the road, but one of them was edging towards a pair of sunglasses left on the deck before another hiker intervened.
..I meant "were"...Gosh! I can´t write properly today :-)
I absolutely love this sighting! where the keas very naughty..did they try to steal things from you or dismantle the cars nearby?? :-)