After a century-long absence,
kaka were successfully reintroduced in Wellington in 2002 - but the restoration
of the iconic native bird has ruffled a few feathers.
Kaka are a delight, says Victoria
ecologist Associate Professor Wayne Linklater. "They're wonderful birds to
watch and listen to, and you watch kids' faces light up around them." But,
just like their cousins the kea, kaka are boisterous, brainy and also potentially
problematic in urban areas.
An emerging challenge in
Wellington's suburbs is kaka damaging property - gouging into trees, roofs and
buildings.
"Kaka are cavity nesters
and, like most birds, attract in numbers where there is food," explains
Wayne. "They're quite happy living in cities, where there are human-made
cavities and food everywhere."
This has led to neighbours
arguing about whether people should be feeding kaka, says Wayne.
"Wellingtonians love feeding birds and connecting with wildlife -
somewhere between 25 and 40 percent of residents at least occasionally feed
birds in their backyard. It extends from throwing out some scrap food to
placing large quantities in bird feeders.
"It could be that for many
kaka their primary food source is people's backyards, and this is driving them
to gather in particularly large numbers in some neighbourhoods."
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