kea parrot

is this instinct or intelligent? …

25 Comments so far

  1. KeaKruuse on March 31st, 2009

    my name is kea too, awesome:D:D

  2. kingkongbassbeat on March 31st, 2009

    Sadly, their smarter than some people I run across at work lol.

  3. shaggyboarder on March 31st, 2009

    Yea it happens when one of the keas tastes the blood of sheep then they just keep doing it;. farmers used to shoot them til it became illegal.

  4. UglyMannheim on March 31st, 2009

    Am i remembering this right?….Years ago I saw a tv piece about some cattle in NZ who were being attacked by some unknown animal. The farmer or rancher had said that something at night was cutting the flesh on the cattles backs open and in the daytime he would find them all bloody. So they set up a night vision camera, taped it and found it was these kea birds that were doing it. The commentator said that they were actually drinking the blood to sustain themselves. Was that just bunk?

  5. LowBudProd on March 31st, 2009

    i love those birds

  6. wkkimmy on March 31st, 2009

    That wasn’t a penguin that was a sometype of water gull which i forgot the name of..but i have the dvd of birds where that scene came from.Keas are one of the 2 parrot species that are omnivorous.

  7. SuperBravoOne on March 31st, 2009

    it looks like it pulled out a baby penguin. There are penguins that live in the south island, and their babies look like little brown furballs and they stay in burrows all day.

  8. 0shresthanil0 on March 31st, 2009

    AMAZING

  9. Centurion7882 on March 31st, 2009

    This is a very smart animal for sure !!!!!

  10. cyclonek9 on March 31st, 2009

    awesome, pretty smart…this is my new favorite animal, lol…not just because its smart though

  11. XxmoonwolfgirlXx on March 31st, 2009

    my name is kea…. weird

  12. tovahtovahtovah on March 31st, 2009

    kia ora!
    i luv kea’s there’s a pair at hamilton zoo that are just beautiful!

  13. Inkoseh on March 31st, 2009

    Probably both. The Kea’s memory seems to be better attuned than tropical parrots who have access to their food all the time. Parrots in general are very smart animals.

    By the way, what did the Kea pull out at the last scene? A dead baby ground owl? O.O

  14. appleJUICEomg on March 31st, 2009

    What a smart bird

  15. marymactavish on March 31st, 2009

    The grey parrot is also one of the most intelligent, and is from tropical climes, and ravens exist in a lot of places, including Mexico, and here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’d question the climate correlation.

  16. genista2001 on March 31st, 2009

    I believe it…..smarter that my cat!!

  17. genista2001 on March 31st, 2009

    I wanted to feed him but there was a sign saying: DO NOT FEED THE KEA…..felt a bit sorry for him as it was raining quite heavily. But then again, a friend told me she has seen a gang of them at Arthur’s Pass wait outside while one goes inside, distracts the shopkeeper and steals a bag of sweets to share….cunning and intelligent to boot! I am still wearing the earring and love telling the tale!

  18. LoudValves on March 31st, 2009

    it wanted payment in food for the treasure I’m sure

  19. LoudValves on March 31st, 2009

    A british study a few years ago claimed that pound for pound,the Kea was the smartest animal on the planet… fwiw

  20. climid on March 31st, 2009

    these are really smart birds and i cant helop to relate that the other smartest bird on earth, the raven from northern canada is also from a similar cold climate, perharps the environment may have a strong effect on shaping intelligence.

  21. Pinkyfuretto on March 31st, 2009

    No. They are a legally protected species. They are also very large and strong birds and they enjoy destroying things. They are kept in public aviaries and zoos however.

  22. scorpius420 on March 31st, 2009

    can keas be bought as pets?

  23. nix63 on March 31st, 2009

    lol when i walked the milford track some poor person left their boots outside.. fool.. needless to say they were no longer wearable in the morning. love these things. theyr vain to. we were outside homer tunnel and we stopped to take a photo and as soon as we got the camera out one came up to us and opened its wings… it was strange.

  24. jamalmanity on March 31st, 2009

    Most people say that the african grey parrot is the smartest in the world, but there is a lot of evidence that these are at least as smart. Just not so talkative.

  25. genista2001 on March 31st, 2009

    At Arthur’s Pass past the Acquaduct last Saturday during a storm I pulled up to take some photos and one of these birds came up to me and gave me an 18kt gold earring! Obviously stolen from someone else! It flew in when I pulled up with my car and dropped it at my feet and I have a photo to prove it. I am now wearing it. I am from Australia and had never seen these birds before until a friend in Christchurch told me all about them! Cheeky fellas.

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