Facts about kākā
North Island kākā, Little Barrier Island
- Kākā have a brush tongue to take nectar from flowers.
- Their strong bill can open the tough cone of the kauri to obtain seeds. They also use their bill as a “third leg” to assist them when climbing trees to reach food.
- They make extensive use of their feet to hold food and to hang from branches to reach fruit and flowers.
- Their diet includes berries of all kinds, seeds, and the nectar of kōwhai, rātā and flax. They also like grubs and are often seen digging invertebrates from rotten logs.
- Kākā play an important role in the forest by pollinating flowers.
- Eggs take three weeks to incubate with nestlings remaining in the nest for two months. Young birds leave the nest before they can fly, making them vulnerable to predators such as stoats and cats.
- Size: 45 cm; males 475g, females 425g (North Island kākā); males 575g, females 500g (South Island kākā).
Different sub-species
There are two sub-species of kākā (Nestor meridionalis): the North Island kākā (N m. septentrionalis), and the South Island kākā (N m. meridionalis). Both sub-species have brown/green feathers with brilliant flashes of orange and scarlet under their wings. The South Island kākā, however, has more vivid colouring and is larger in size.
When Europeans first arrived in New Zealand, they found kākā in abundance through out the forests of both islands, but by 1930 the birds were localised to a few areas. Today, they are still reasonably common in the Whirinaki, and Pureora forest parks, but even within these strongholds, numbers are thought to be declining. Other large forested areas are almost empty of kākā. The North Island kākā, nevertheless, can be found in good numbers on some offshore islands, especially little and Great Barrier islands and Kapiti Island. The South Island sub-species is still widespread, becoming progressively more common from Nelson (where it is relatively rare) down the West Coast to Fiordland. South Island kākā are also found around Halfmoon Bay (Stewart Island), Ulva Island, and on Codfish Island.
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