Pictures A little bit about NZ parrots

[Harleyandme]

For my 200th post... A lecture on New Zealand parrots.
As you may know, I live in New Zealand. It is home to many weird and wonderful creatures such as the tuatara: Tuatara - Wikipedia and very adorable little fantails: New Zealand fantail - Wikipedia

There are also native parrots to New Zealand. We have the world's only alpine parrot, the Kea.
I have had my experience with these cheeky parrots. When I was little, we went on a trip and stopped for lunch. Then a kea visited our car and chewed the lining of rubber off it! They are extraordinarily smart!

This is what they do...

There's also the Kakapo, one of the cutest parrots EVER!



The last one i'm going to mention is the Kaka:
They are also SUPER smart and I actually haven't seen one of them before!




If you want to read more about them: Parrots of New Zealand - Wikipedia

Here is a few extra photos of some of the cool birds in New Zealand (which are commonly found in my backyard and around the place):

This is a native wood pigeon called the kereru (one of my many favourites):



The native bird called the Tui (these things have incredible vocals):


Also a fantail:


And a not so native king fisher:


Anyway, thanks for reading!

 

[MandaExotics]

A publication I did for my bachelor's was on the tuatara years ago

It would be neat to see parrots as part of natural native wildlife (not an invasive species) but at least squirrels can be entertaining.

 

[Harleyandme]

A publication I did for my bachelor's was on the tuatara years ago

It would be neat to see parrots as part of natural native wildlife (not an invasive species) but at least squirrels can be entertaining.

We don't have squirrels here! Sounds like an interesting publication

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I love them all! New Zealand seems like such a magical place. I can see why the kereru is one of your favorites, and you can almost see the intelligence in the kaka's eyes. Great photos!

 

[nu2birds]

Thanks for sharing..........such beautiful and unusual birds. That bottom pic of the Kakapo almost looks owl like. I've never seen a pigeon with that coloring. Almost looks like Mallard Duck coloring. I hope I get to visit new Zealand someday........AND Australia!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Enjoyed the photos and the info. Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[xgreenbudgiex]

Yeah we often have Tuis and wood pigeons visit out tree in the garden, lots of tasty berries

Oh and just a hint if anyone is planning on visiting to see the wildlife go to Great Barrier Island, Kakas are EVERYWHERE.
A few years ago my family took a holiday there and it was PARADISE
We used to leave out fruit for them and they would come land on the balcony!
They also have a lot of Tuis and bellbirds.


Yes Kakapos are amazing, eh?
They are the heaviest parrot in the world! And they can't fly, which is part of the reason they are so endangered.
Them rats are nasty.

 

[LunaLovebird]

If you're anywhere near Wellington, you should take a trip over to the Wairarapas and visit Pukaha Mount Bruce wildlife centre. You'll see all the Kākā you could ever want. My partner took me to stay near Greymouth for a few days for my birthday last year and took me there. It's not huge, but we easily spent hours there just looking at all the birds.

 

[Harleyandme]

If you're anywhere near Wellington, you should take a trip over to the Wairarapas and visit Pukaha Mount Bruce wildlife centre. You'll see all the Kākā you could ever want. My partner took me to stay near Greymouth for a few days for my birthday last year and took me there. It's not huge, but we easily spent hours there just looking at all the birds.

Funny that, I have relatives in Napier, so we're always road tripping past there and I don't remember going to a place like that . Will bring it up next time we go up. I've been to Owlcatraz and The Parrot place when I was younger though

 

[Harleyandme]

I love them all! New Zealand seems like such a magical place. I can see why the kereru is one of your favorites, and you can almost see the intelligence in the kaka's eyes. Great photos!

Yes, Kererus are so beautiful and sometimes they land right on our balcony, they're so big! Here is a photo I got from the internet to see the size comparison. You can tell when kererus are near your house because all you hear is a big FLAP FLAP FLAP past the window

 

[Harleyandme]

Yeah we often have Tuis and wood pigeons visit out tree in the garden, lots of tasty berries

Us too, except a kereru is a rare visitor. Tuis are very common along with starlings, blackbirds, fantails, sparrows plus a few kingfishers and bellbirds.

 

[Harleyandme]

Thanks for sharing..........such beautiful and unusual birds. That bottom pic of the Kakapo almost looks owl like. I've never seen a pigeon with that coloring. Almost looks like Mallard Duck coloring. I hope I get to visit new Zealand someday........AND Australia!

Australia is beautiful! Yes, quite a few birds in NZ have that sort of purple-blue-green tone to them, like Tuis do. This is a close up photo of a tui and it's colours:

 

[Harleyandme]

Oh and if you are interested, Here is what a Tui can sound like:
These are common birds and I see them all the time
Tui | New Zealand Birds Online (go to sounds further down the page)
Or go to here for a direct youtube link:

This is what a captive one can do:

 

[Harleyandme]

Here is a better video of Woof Woof:

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Wow, Woof Woof has such an amazing voice!