Kea

Kea battle analysis

The kea is a parrot that lives where parrots usually do not: on windy ridges and alpine herb-fields of the Southern Alps, nesting on the ground and breeding through the mountain winter. It survives there by being curious. Kea dig, pry, rip and test almost everything they meet, from grubs in rotten logs to rubber on cars, traps set for pests and gear left outside huts.

That curiosity is backed by measured ability. In controlled studies, kea predicted sampling outcomes from ratios of objects while taking into account physical barriers and an experimenter's bias, a combination previously shown only in great apes. A disabled kea invented his own pebble tool for preening. At the same time, experiments show limits: kea did not grasp their partner's role in a cooperation task and did not infer weight from objects moving in a breeze. The picture is of a highly capable, exploratory problem solver rather than an all-purpose genius.

In an absolute matchup, the kea's bill is a tearing tool on a bird under 1 kg. It can wound a sheep that cannot shake it off and kill a seabird chick, but it has no armor and little mass. It wins by working out what an opponent or obstacle will do, not by overpowering anything that can fight back.

Habitat & range

The kea lives only on the South Island of New Zealand, over about four million hectares along the main mountain ranges from Farewell Spit to Waitutu and in the Kaikōura Ranges. It occurs from coastal dunes and lowland valleys on the West Coast to high alpine peaks, but is most common in montane forest and the subalpine and alpine zones above it. Bones show it once lived through lowland forest on the North Island as well.

Diet & hunting

It is omnivorous. Kea eat shoots, fruits, leaves, nectar and seeds of more than 40 plant species; dig for insect larvae, grass grubs and plant tubers; rip open rotten logs for huhu grubs; and eat land snails. Animal food includes Hutton's shearwater chicks, mice, rabbits and carcasses of deer, chamois, tahr and sheep. Kea also spread the seeds of alpine plants.

Social life

Adults form long-term monogamous pairs. Juveniles gather in loose, wandering flocks, which breeding adults may join as they pass through. Flocks have flexible hierarchies, and unrelated adults tolerate juveniles, which helps young kea learn.

Conservation

The kea is listed as Endangered by the IUCN and as Threatened–Nationally Endangered in New Zealand, with an estimated 1,000–5,000 birds (DOC). About 150,000 were killed for bounties between 1860 and 1970; protection came in stages, with full protection in 1986. Today's main threats are introduced predators (stoats, possums and cats) at nests, lead poisoning from old buildings, and conflict and accidents with people. At Aoraki / Mount Cook, all 38 live kea tested had detectable blood lead and 26 had dangerously high levels. Predator control greatly improves nest survival.

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