The kea (alpine parrot) is drawn to human activities and objects – often pulling apart soft rubber car parts. (This dog should be worried about his nose!) Keas are very comical around mountain huts – sliding down roofs, kicking snow on to peoples’ heads from above, hiding objects, and breaking into containers. Their diet includes berries, seeds, entire flowers, leaves, stems and roots. They also eat grubs and other high-fat animal foods. At rubbish dumps they often ingest plastic and other harmful materials. Their numbers appear to be declining.
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Natural Sciences Image Library of New Zealand
Reference: Bi0198Rbt.tif
by Dick Roberts
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