Food Supply

Source Author Year Title Quote
Otago Daily Times Online News 10/02/14 Mark Price 2014 Kea-resistance on pellets “Tourists frequently ignore signs asking them not to feed the cheeky South Isaland native parrots. And by doing so, they encourage kea to try new foods”
Academia 2014 Lorne Roberts 2014 Population estimates of wild Kea (Nestor notabilis) “…severe degradation of this environment from past agricultural practices and introduced browsing and predator species…continues to have an unknown impact on kea food availability”
New Zealand Birds online – The digital encyclopaedia of New Zealand Birds Anon. 2014 Kea “Fats and proteins scavenged from the carcasses of deer and sheep may have boosted productivity among the reclusive breeding adults.”
New Zealand Birds online – The digital encyclopaedia of New Zealand Birds Anon. 2014 Kea “Adaptivity is part of kea ecology. They have benefitted from some human-induced modifications in their habitat, including scavenging from dead deer, chamois and thar shot by hunters”
Kea Conservation Trust updates 16/12/13 Kea Conservation Trust 2013 Kea Conservation Trust (KCT) Update “Kea are naturally attracted to human areas which provide both high energy foods and interesting objects to play with.”
Scientific American 21/01/13 Cristy Gelling 2013 BrainiacParrots Threatened by Widespread Lead Poisoning “Many juvenile kea do not survive their first winter, and to avoid starvation they must be willing and able to eat almost anything they find.”
Kea Conservation Trust Updates Dec 2012 T. Orr-Walker 2012 Decline of kea threatens alpine plants “The decline of the kea, the world’s only alpine parrot species, could spell the end of 12 per cent of New Zealand’ alpine plants, researchers say”
Kea Conservation Trust Updates Dec 2012 T. Orr-Walker 2012 Decline of kea threatens alpine plants “…looked at the foraging behaviour of kea and found they spend a large proportion of the time eating fruit…to maintain genetic viability the plants need to disperse their seeds…much of the effective long-distance dispersal of the alpine flora may be currently performed by kea”
Otago Daily Times Online News 07/05/09 Otago Daily Times Online News 07/05/09 2009 Help needed in kea count “The trust has been organising biannual counts of kea populations for the last two years- last winter more than 70 people registered across the South Island. Ms Orr-Walker said the winter counts were “a fun thing to do – kea move down from higher places as food runs out; and they are also in their nesting phase””
NZ J Ecology 23: 95-100 N.C. Alterio et al. 1999 Trappability and densities of stoats (Mustela erminea) and ship rats (Rattus rattus) in a South Island Nothofagus forest, New Zealand “…marked stoats were re-trapped more often in the latter sampling period, probably because mice (Mus musculus) were very scare”
MSC Thesis, Linoln University R. Brejaart 1994 Aspects of the Ecology of kea, Nestor notabilis (Gould) at Arthur’s Pass and Craigieburn Valley. “Since 1989, a publicity campaign has been in force, aided at discouraging people from feeding kea. The objective of the campaign is to increase public awareness of the consequences of habituating kea to food handouts.”
MSC Thesis, Linoln University R. Brejaart 1994 Aspects of the Ecology of kea, Nestor notabilis (Gould) at Arthur’s Pass and Craigieburn Valley. “For example, baboons (Papio spp.) feeding on foodscraps at garbage dumps matured faster and produced more offspring and had higher cholesterol levels than those baboons feeding on natural foods…bears…that fed on anthropogenic foods were larger and had higher reproductive rates…dramatic increases in several species of gulls…have been attributed to rubbish dumps and availability of anthropogenic foods”
MSC Thesis, Linoln University R. Brejaart 1994 Aspects of the Ecology of kea, Nestor notabilis (Gould) at Arthur’s Pass and Craigieburn Valley. “While the effects of anthropogenic foods on kea are as yet unknown, dead kea have been found at rubbish dumps where they feed”
MSC Thesis, Linoln University R. Brejaart 1994 Aspects of the Ecology of kea, Nestor notabilis (Gould) at Arthur’s Pass and Craigieburn Valley. “Kea are known to forage at the dump, and are documented to have done so since the late 1950s”
MSC Thesis, Linoln University R. Brejaart 1994 Aspects of the Ecology of kea, Nestor notabilis (Gould) at Arthur’s Pass and Craigieburn Valley. “Kea fed mainly on human foods at Arthur’s Pass and on natural foods at Craigieburn…The mean weight of kea banded at Arthur’s Pass was 836 g….nearly 100 g more than the mean weight of kea banded at Craigieburn”
MSC Thesis, Linoln University R. Brejaart 1994 Aspects of the Ecology of kea, Nestor notabilis (Gould) at Arthur’s Pass and Craigieburn Valley. “The two sites used in this study differed greatly in the anthropogenic foods available. At Arthur’s Pass such foods were available to kea year round. This was not the case at Craigieburn Valley…In the winter of this study no anthropogenic food was available…the differences in kea activity between the sites were small, especially for…foraging and manipulative play”
MSC Thesis, Linoln University R. Brejaart 1994 Aspects of the Ecology of kea, Nestor notabilis (Gould) at Arthur’s Pass and Craigieburn Valley. “Solidified frying fat, discarded in the creek adjacent to the local tearooms, was a major attraction for kea”
Notornis 39: 151-160 A. Bond & J. Diamond 1992 Population estimates of Kea in Arthur’s Pass National Park “The mean number of birds that foraged at the dump during the summer was estimated as 20 juveniles, 10 subadults, and 36 adults.”
Notornis 39: 151-160 A. Bond & J. Diamond 1992 Population estimates of Kea in Arthur’s Pass National Park “It seems likely that the Halpin Creek dump, indeed, the entire Bealey Valley, is a population sink for dispersing juveniles, providing a reliable food source for animals that have not yet developed adult foraging skills.”
Papers in Behaviour Biological Sciences Paper 45 1991 J. Diamond & A. Bond 1991 Social Behaviour and the Ontogeny of Foraging in the Kea (Nestor notabilis) “Fledglings explored and manipulated objects almost continuously…”
Papers in Behaviour Biological Sciences Paper 45 1991 J. Diamond & A. Bond 1991 Social Behaviour and the Ontogeny of Foraging in the Kea (Nestor notabilis) “…Kea are ecological generalists, feeding on over a hundred different species of plants and animals”
Papers in Behaviour Biological Sciences Paper 45 1991 J. Diamond & A. Bond 1991 Social Behaviour and the Ontogeny of Foraging in the Kea (Nestor notabilis) “…these factors suggest a complex ontogeny, requiring extensive learning about both the social and ecological environment”
Papers in Behaviour Biological Sciences Paper 45 1991 J. Diamond & A. Bond 1991 Social Behaviour and the Ontogeny of Foraging in the Kea (Nestor notabilis) “Adult kea are capable scavengers, particularly with respect to the discovery and exploitation of new resources”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “It would seem that starvation is the main cause of death; that all keas have experience of disease and injury; and perhaps most keas have eluded predators”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “A bad season, as 1957-58 summer, can greatly reduce the number of Keas but again is not the immediate cause of death. Where keas and men meet, man directly and indirectly causes the death of many Keas. Man is certainly the most important predator”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “Of two other keas, which “scoured” and died, one had an empty gut and was a very light weight; and the second may have been poisoned. The kea with a dislocated shoulder is listed separately for birds seldom dislocate a wing but rather break a bone. It is suspected that muscular necrosis had set in, as described below, as in some keas taken into captivity about the same time. The big group of natural deaths includes skeletons found hidden under tussocks and moraine boulders, away from human habitation and where the Kea presumably crept to die.”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “Two of the starving Keas…died within one week of banding. They had been very light at banding…”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “In the autumn as nesting finishes adult Keas may die, as they go into moult, perhaps in poor condition. The greatest mortality for all Keas is June to September when food is most scarce”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “These tables show the large loss of Keas in their first year, especially soon after banding. Some of these Keas were inexperienced, recently fledged Keas. Others were banded and died in the spring when there is a large moving population, spurred by hunger”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “Also in August and September adult Keas move further from their homes for these are the hungriest months.”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “This suggests that in May a heavy mortality of inexperienced light-weight young keas occurs. The maximum for adults is a month later; their skill probably enables them to find food for a month longer than the first-year keas”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “The bad Season – October 1957-May 1958…in each month the rainfall was greatly above average, especially from October to March, probably the significant months for the Kea…December was the worst month…There were frequent storms…This period caused a great reduction in the Kea population. Perhaps it was reduced to two thirds normal…Chicks were found dead in their nests, eating of eggs was first noticed, and many parent Keas disappeared. Usual foods failed. That summer there was little nectar, and the following winter few berries. Starvation was the immediate cause of death of many Keas that summer”.
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “Grossly underweight Keas are at the bottom of the peck order and among these Keas a haemolytic anaemia develops…”
Notornis 16: 33-44 J R Jackson 1969 What do keas die of? “On occasion, the Kea hen destroys her own eggs and chicks…I have known five nests where the eggs have been eaten and one where the chicks were trodden into the floor of the nest. In the latter case many Keas were about when the chicks were killed. The hen left this nest to make a new nest two miles away…”
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “This account describes territory, food and an estimate of population…Most of the Keas have been caught and banded at Arthurs Pass…or Temple Basin…in winter time when they are hungry and easily attracted with butter; indeed the refuse in the rubbish dumps has already attracted them as scavengers to these places.”
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “Young leaves and buds of forest trees form the main food of Keas. At all seasons they spend much time in the tree-tops (at Arthurs Pass in mountain beech) steadily and slowly picking buds;…Or they may turn their attention to soft rotten twigs in which they find grubs and beetles”
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “Both of these important blossoms is unreliable. Not infrequently the flax over large areas fails to flower, and the rata is notorious for having its blossom ruined by heavy rain”
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “Snow totara…is the most important fruit. In a good year it is the main food from January until it is buried in snow. During the winter the plants alongside a stream are often uncovered, when they are searched again. Next September or October in the thaw, a few shrivelled berries remain and are again an important food. However, Totora fails in wet seasons, for it is wind-pollinated.”
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “I have not seen Keas feeding on seeds, though Potts (1882) records them as feeding on kowhai…seeds.”
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “In winter, green droppings of bile indicate that many juvenile Kea are starving. At this season Keas feed at a lower altitude and often on the forest floor. They take such unattractive berries as Coprosma pseudocuneata, neglected by blackbirds”
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “July: Heavy falls of snow cover much ground and Keas feed in the forest and on the forest floor. First eggs laid…October: Peak of laying. Adults very shy and quiet…December: Earliest fledglings I have noticed. Most adult females are either with a clutch or building a nest”
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “The first -year Keas at Arthurs Pass in winter have been drawn certainly from eight miles and perhaps from fifteen miles. The surrounding countryside is stripped almost completely of first-year Keas…they are almost all around the ski-huts or in the townships…Later when they disperse from Arthurs Pass they may fly out 15 miles in any direction, giving a possible movement of 30 miles. “
Notornis IX: 39-58 J R Jackson 1960 Keas at Arthurs Pass “A deer carcase is a good magnet. In a few days Keas will have found it and at daybreak and nightfall the flock will return to feast”
Trans, Royal NZ Inst. 39: 71-89 W.B. Benham 1907 Notes on the Flesh-eating Propensity of the Kea (Nestor notabilis) “According to that accurate observer, the late Mr Thomas H. Potts, the kea gathers “its subsistence from the nectar of hardy flowers, from the drupes and berries of dwarfed shrubs that contend with a rigorous climate and press upwards almost to the snow-line of our alpine giants. To these food-resources may be added insects found in the crevices of rocks, beneath the bark of trees,” &c”
Trans, Royal NZ Inst. 39: 71-90 W.B. Benham 1907 Notes on the Flesh-eating Propensity of the Kea (Nestor notabilis) “…when the snow covers these alpine shrubs, and insect life is dormant, the kea is forced to go lower and lower down the mountain to take shelter in gullies, where it feeds on the hard, bitter seeds of the kowhai…small hard seed in the fruit of Pittosporum, the black berries of Aristotelia fruiticosa…as well as on the fruit of the pitch-pine and the totara.”