The world’s only mountain parrot
whose cheeky antics divide Kiwis, beats kererū and kākāpō to coveted
crown
Monday 23 October
2017 23.56 BSTLast modified on Tuesday 24 October
2017 00.52 BST
The kea, the world’s only alpine
parrot, has been crowned New Zealand bird
of the year, with thousands more votes cast for the species than there are
surviving individuals.
New Zealand’s annual bird of the year
competition hit new heights this year with more than
50,000 votes cast from around the country and the world. The competition is in
its 13th year, and pits the country’s rare and endangered birds against one
another. No bird has won twice.
The kea – a highly intelligent
and inquisitive olive green mountain parrot that lives only in the Southern
Alps – received 7,311 votes, streets ahead of the native wood pigeon, the
kererū, which came second with 4,572 votes, followed by the kākāpō with 2,554
votes.
There are 168 bird species
in New
Zealand and about a third are threatened with extinction, with
dozens more on the endangered list. Some species have dwindled to a few hundred
individuals tucked away in isolated pockets of the country.
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