Kea - Mountain Parrot

These are the mischievous monkeys in parrot's feathers, intoxicated with their own cleverness.

– Narrator Barry Paine on kea hijinks in ski area carparks

Its brain and its beak are a kea's tools for survival, a combination that gets it a living, but has also earned it a doubtful reputation in places.

– Narrator Barry Paine

...the kea has a beak like an ice pick, and feet that serve well as natural crampons.

– Narrator Barry Paine

The intelligent, amusing kea is the only bird we have ever deliberately set out to exterminate – so his is a story worth telling.

– Authors Rod Morris and Hal Smith on farmers fighting to exterminate the kea, in 1988 book Wild South: Saving New Zealand's Endangered Birds, page 60

It wasn’t long before war was being declared.

– Farmers versus kea after revelations that kea were attacking sheep, authors Rod Morris and Hal Smith on the kea, in 1988 book Wild South: Saving New Zealand's Endangered Birds, page 62

We must feel glad that, for the moment, the kea has been saved to amuse us, surprise us, even annoy us and damage our property, and cheekily remind us that land was not made just for the benefit of the human race.

– Authors Rod Morris and Hal Smith on the kea, in 1988 book Wild South: Saving New Zealand's Endangered Birds, page 68

Their love of mischief can range from nuisance to minor destruction.

– Authors Rod Morris and Hal Smith on the kea, in 1988 book Wild South: Saving New Zealand's Endangered Birds, page 68