# Kea — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Nestor notabilis (Gould, 1856) — family Strigopidae*

> The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict.

**IUCN status:** Endangered — the world's only alpine parrot  ·  **WARN range:** New Zealand — South Island alpine and subalpine zones

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Length | ~48 cm |
| Weight | 800–1,000 g |
| Habitat | Alpine and subalpine, South Island New Zealand |
| Diet | Omnivorous — roots, berries, insects, carrion |
| Nest | Ground-level cavities, vulnerable to introduced predators |
| Key threats | Stoats and possums, lead poisoning, vehicle strikes |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Aves
- **Order:** Psittaciformes
- **Family:** Strigopidae
- **Genus:** Nestor
- **Species:** Nestor notabilis

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Endangered
- **Population:** Low thousands
- **Trend:** Decreasing
- **Assessed:** 2017
- **CITES:** Appendix II
- Lead poisoning from flashing and nails on old alpine buildings is a significant and entirely preventable cause of death.

## Key facts: Kea
- Kea are the only parrots adapted to alpine environments.
- They solve novel problems, use tools in captivity and cooperate on multi-step tasks.
- Kea have a 'play call' — hearing it prompts other birds to start playing.
- Lead flashing and nails on old buildings poison kea, which chew soft metal.
- Introduced stoats and possums take eggs and chicks from ground-level nests.
- Feeding kea is harmful: it draws them to roads and buildings where most human-caused deaths occur.

## Problem solvers
Kea have been shown to work through multi-step puzzles, use objects as tools in captivity, cooperate with a partner on tasks needing simultaneous action, and adjust their behaviour based on statistical information — a capacity previously demonstrated mainly in great apes.

The likely driver is their environment. Alpine New Zealand offers scattered, seasonal, unpredictable food, and an animal that can work out how to open something novel does better than one that cannot. In practice this means kea investigate everything by taking it apart, which is intelligence and destruction being the same behaviour.

## Play, and a call that spreads it
Kea play extensively as adults — tumbling, wrestling, tossing objects and inventing games with whatever they find. Research identified a distinct warbling call that functions as a play vocalisation: birds hearing a recording of it spontaneously begin playing, which makes it one of very few documented emotionally contagious calls outside mammals.

Play in adult animals is generally associated with cognitively complex, long-lived, social species, and the kea fits all three.

## Why they are Endangered
Introduced stoats and possums are the largest natural-history problem: kea nest in cavities at ground level, so eggs, chicks and brooding females are easy targets.

The rest is human. Lead is a major documented poison — kea chew lead flashing, nails and head-bolts on old alpine buildings, and blood-lead levels in wild kea are high enough to cause illness and death. Vehicle strikes kill birds drawn to roadside car parks. Historically, kea were shot under a government bounty over sheep predation, and illegal killing still occurs.

## Why feeding a kea harms it
Kea are engaging and will approach people readily, which makes feeding them almost irresistible. It is also one of the worst things a visitor can do. Fed birds concentrate at car parks, roadsides and buildings — precisely the places where vehicle strikes, lead exposure and conflict with residents occur.

Human food is also nutritionally wrong for them, and habituated birds become bolder, which escalates property damage and the hostility that follows. The consistent conservation advice is simple: watch them, do not feed them, and secure anything you would rather keep intact.

## What WARN does
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including the cases where the most important conservation action is something a visitor chooses not to do. Kea are harmed most reliably by well-meant feeding, and that is a message education can actually shift.

If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.

## Frequently asked questions: Kea
### How intelligent are kea?
Among the most capable birds studied. Kea solve multi-step puzzles, use tools in captivity, cooperate with partners on tasks needing simultaneous action, and have demonstrated statistical reasoning previously shown mainly in great apes.

### Why do kea destroy things?
Investigation and destruction are the same behaviour in a kea. They live in a harsh alpine environment with scattered, unpredictable food, where taking novel objects apart is a useful strategy. Cars, backpacks and buildings are simply novel objects.

### Are kea endangered?
Yes, kea are listed as Endangered. Introduced stoats and possums take eggs and chicks from ground-level nests, and lead poisoning from old alpine buildings, vehicle strikes and illegal killing add substantial human-caused mortality.

### Why shouldn't you feed kea?
Feeding concentrates them at car parks, roads and buildings, which is exactly where vehicle strikes, lead exposure and conflict with residents happen. Human food is also nutritionally unsuitable, and habituated birds become bolder and more destructive.

### Where do kea live?
Only in the alpine and subalpine zones of New Zealand's South Island. They are the only parrot species in the world adapted to an alpine environment.

### What do keas eat?
Keas eat Omnivorous — roots, berries, insects, carrion. The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict.

### Are keas dangerous?
The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict. Give wild keas space; do not corner them.

### How long do keas live?
A precise wild lifespan for keas is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

### How big is a kea?
A Kea is about ~48 cm. The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict. Conservation status: Stoats and possums, lead poisoning, vehicle strikes.

## Sources
- [IUCN Red List — Nestor notabilis](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22684831/119243358)
- [CITES Appendices](https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/kea