Kea
Nestor notabilis
The world's only true alpine parrot, found only on the South Island of New Zealand. Large, with olive-green plumage. Note scarlet underwings visible in flight. Females are smaller than males with shorter bills. Juveniles have a yellow eye-ring and a paler crown. Gives a distinct loud “keee-aaa” call, mostly in flight. Very inquisitive toward people and their cars within the mountain ranges, at ski fields, at huts, and along mountain roads. Distinguished from New Zealand Kaka by blue-green flight feathers, larger size, and alpine habitat.
识别特征
The kea is a large parrot measuring 46 to 50 cm (18 to 20 in) in total length, with some specimens possibly reaching 55 cm (22 in). Adult kea weigh between 750 and 1,000 g (1.65 and 2.20 lb), with males averaging 956 g (2.108 lb) and females averaging 779 g (1.717 lb). One source listed the mean adult weight as 922 g (2.033 lb) It has mostly olive-green plumage with a grey beak having a long, narrow, curved upper beak. The adult has dark-brown irises, and the cere, eyerings, and legs are grey. It has orange feathers on the undersides of its wings. The feathers on the sides of its face are dark olive-brown, the ones on its back and rump are orange-red, and some of the outer wing feathers are dull blue. It has a short, broad, bluish-green tail with a black tip. Feather shafts project at the tip of the tail and the undersides of the inner tail feathers have yellow-orange transverse stripes. The male is about 5% longer than the female, and the male's upper beak is 12–14% longer than the female's. Juveniles generally resemble adults, but have yellow eyerings and cere, an orange-yellow lower beak, and grey-yellow legs.
分类信息
The kea was described by ornithologist John Gould in 1856, from two specimens shown to him by Walter Mantell. Some elderly Māori had told Mantell about the bird around eight years previously and how it used to visit the coast in winter but had not been seen in recent times. Mantell investigated and obtained the birds in Murihiku. Its specific epithet, the Latin term notabilis, means "noteworthy". The common name kea is from Māori, probably an onomatopoeic representation of their in-flight call – 'keee aaa'. The word "kea" is both singular and plural.<p>The genus Nestor contains four species: the New Zealand kākā (Nestor meridionalis), the kea (N. notabilis), the extinct Norfolk kākā (N. productus), and the extinct Chatham kākā (N. chathamensis). All four are thought to stem from a "proto-kākā", dwelling in the forests of New Zealand five million years ago. Their closest relative is the flightless kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus). Together, they form the parrot superfamily Strigopoidea, an ancient group that split off from all other Psittacidae before their radiation.
- 学名
- Nestor notabilis
- 命名信息
- Gould, 1856
- 目
- Psittaciformes
- 科
- Strigopidae
- 属
- Nestor
分布与栖息地
The kea is one of nine living endemic parrot species in New Zealand.<p>The kea ranges from lowland river valleys and coastal forests of the South Island's west coast up to alpine regions of the South Island such as Arthur's Pass and Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park. It is closely associated throughout its range with the southern beech (Nothofagus) forests in the alpine ridge.<p>Apart from occasional vagrants, kea today are not found in the North Island. Subfossil kea bones have been found in sand dunes at Mataikona in the eastern Wairarapa, Poukawa near Hastings, and Waitomo, indicating that they ranged through lowland forest over much of the North Island until the arrival of Polynesian settlers about 750 years ago. Kea subfossils are not restricted to alpine areas, being commonly found in lowland or coastal sites in the South Island. The current distribution of kea reflects the effects of mammalian predators, including humans, which have driven them out of lowland forests into the mountains.
- 迁徙
- Resident species
行为
Migration pattern: Resident species.
保护状况
Population trend: declining.
- 种群趋势
- declining
照片
分布
鸟叫声
其他鸟类
Striated Laughingthrush
Grammatoptila striata
With its short bill and loose, bushy crest, this laughingthrush resembles a dark, rather unmarked barwing. Brown overall with pencil-thin white lines all over the body. Crest is dark brown, and wings are dull rufous. Inhabits forests and adjoining areas with dense undergrowth in the Himalayan foothills. Like many other laughingthrushes, highly social and often found in flocks, which keep in contact with calls ranging from harsh screeches to hooting. Often gives a series of repeated loud, upslurred notes.
Spice Imperial-Pigeon
Ducula myristicivora
A large, stocky pigeon that is found on islands off the shore of Halmahera and far western Papua. Gray head, emerald-green back and wings, blue tail and rusty vent. The eye is red and there is a large knob-like projection on the front top of the bill. Found in a variety of forested habitats, and some wander between islands, sometimes straying to the mainland. Voice a deep, gravelly, 2-note “grrr-waw”, with the second note higher than the first. Similar Spectacled Imperial-Pigeon may co-occur but is separated by its white spectacle around the eye and lack of a knob on the bill.
White-spotted Wattle-eye
Dyaphorophyia tonsa
A pied wattle-eye of lowland forests. Males are white below with an iridescent black belt. Overall iridescent black above except for the white spot over the eye, the white sides of the neck, and the white rump. Males also have purplish eye wattles that are larger above the eye than below the eye. Females are decidedly different, with reddish-brown throats, wings and backs, gray faces, limited white above the eye, a black crown, and a purplish eye-ring. Both sexes are similar to Chestnut Wattle-eye, but note White-spotted Wattle-eye’s white spots above the eye and the more extensive white on the neck of the males. Call is a hollow “pwoo,” sometimes doubled, given repeatedly about every half second. Also gives shorter “rick rick rick” calls like other wattle-eyes.
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