Meet the Locals: Treble Cone Vandals

Their attraction to people and their paraphernalia is a two-edged sword, providing both new threats and new opportunities.

– New Zealand Birds Online information on kea

So, the next time you are high in the mountains enjoying a day's skiing or you're just here for a big day out, make sure you remember not to leave anything on your roof racks, but do be sure to bring your camera because these cheeky locals of ours, the keas, love to put on a great show.

– Presenter Nicola Toki (née Vallance) signs off from Treble Cone ski field

They tend to get anything off, like the rubber off the windscreen wipers ... any soft plastic they'll have a go at and they can actually do quite a lot of damage to cars.

– Department of Conservation's Stuart Thorne on the insatiable curiosity of car-loving keas

University of Auckland experts found the birds can judge statistical odds in a way only ever seen before in infants and great apes ... Kea worked out that choosing a particular coloured token always led to a food reward, and even managed to learn which of their rangers was most likely to pick the token they wanted.

– University of Auckland study on kea intelligence, Radio NZ, 4 March 2020

They are taonga and one of three parrot species which evolved in isolation over millions of years, playing an important role as alpine seed distributors and ‘cleaners’ , and are highly valued as one of the most intelligent bird species in the world.

– Kea Conservation Trust referring to their namesake