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Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds



I was going to say that the Kea is completely terrestrial, but that

is pretty obvious, for it lives mainly above the tree line, but it is also

a bird of the air, spending almost as much of its time in that element

as upon the ground. It is a wonderful sight to see a flock of these

birds wheeling round and round in the brilliant and intense sunshine

in the rarified atmosphere of the great ice peaks.


They are transformed from the dull greenish bird which we see in

captivity or in museums ; for it is then that we see the bright yellow-

spotted flight and tail feathers and the beautiful bright orange under¬

wing coverts. In its proper setting the Kea is a beautiful bird, often the

only splash of colour in the sombre, desolate and stony valleys. I was

astounded to find another bird which one does not usually associate

with alpine regions, namely the Southern Black-backed Gull (Larus

dominicanus) with which the Kea consorts. I have often seen a flock

of Keas and Gulls mingled together wheeling overhead. The call of

the Kea, when once heard, is never forgotten, for it is very distinctive.

It is somewhat between the mewing of a seagull and the yelp of a dog.

Sometimes the birds will make a call like that of a cat, at other times

there is a strangely human sound in the calls.


They are extremely noisy birds, especially when on the wing and

up in their mountain home. Few other sounds are to be heard except

the continual thunder of falling avalanches or the cracking of the

ice in the glaciers. When in the air the tips of the primary flight

feathers are separated and upturned like those of an eagle ; in fact

the bird looks very hawk-like when in flight and this, no doubt, lends

colour to the sheep-eating tales. Around the Ball Hut by the Tasman

Glacier at Mount Cook (12,349 feet) the Keas are fairly numerous ;

there must be from fifty to sixty in the locality. Fortunately they are

protected by the authorities at the Hermitage, the hostel at Mount

Cook. But there are even people, including certain members of

Parliament, who are using every effort to get them destroyed, and yet

never in the history of the Hermitage has a Kea been known to touch

a sheep, although there are hundreds around there, and Keas and

sheep live on quite friendly terms.


A garbage dump at the foot of a stony cliff at the Ball Hut, was

a great attraction to the Keas. They found many scraps to their



