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Story: Large forest birds

North Island and South Island kākā

North Island and South Island kākā

Kākā are medium-sized parrots which live in forests of all three main islands, and on many nearshore islands. The North Island subspecies (left) is olive brown, and its feathers have darker edges than those of the green South Island birds (right). Kākā have a large pale grey crown, smaller and whiter in the South Island kākā. Both subspecies have a tinge of gold on the cheek, and are crimson under the wings. Males have a longer, more arched bill than females.

Using this item

Department of Conservation

Reference: 10053925 (left); 10059450 (right)

by Ross Henderson (left) and Tui De Roy (right)

Courtesy of Roving Tortoise Worldwide Nature Photography

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How to cite this page

Gerard Hutching, Large forest birds – Kākā, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/10581/north-island-and-south-island-kaka (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Gerard Hutching, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 August 2023.

Comments

LOU WITIKA
06 February 2016
Just wanted to comment on a kaka that has been hanging around our tree for the last couple of days. What's amazing is that my sister is the only one that the bird will come out of the tree to be hand fed by her picking bits of fruit out of her hand. It goes away but tends to come back daily.She is working on trying to get the bird to land on her arm as it is only a matter of 6 inches away when she feeds it. Any comments on this would be much appreciated.