\u201cThis is the largest flock of kea I\u2019ve seen at Aoraki or anywhere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCombined with increased sightings of kea around the park, it\u2019s a positive sign that the local kea population is increasing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weston said young kea often banded together in wandering flocks in late summer and autumn, but DoC didn\u2019t know where they were coming from. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hoping this research will help answer that question.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, 420 kea have been banded with the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags over the past two summers as part of the trial. <\/p>\n
There are 13 readers installed at huts and other sites within the adjacent Westland Tai Poutini and Aoraki Mount Cook national parks and nearby conservation areas. <\/p>\n
More readers will be added, including New Zealand Alpine Club huts.<\/p>\n
DoC said the use of RFID tags was a cost-effective way of monitoring kea. <\/p>\n
The leg bands cost less than $1 each, and the data is passively gathered as kea land on the tag readers.<\/p>\n
A kea flock at Red Tarns, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. Photo \/ DoC, Andrew Simmons<\/p>\n
The World Parrot Trust-supported trial addresses one of the priorities of a new joint recovery strategy by DoC, Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101i Tahu and the Kea Conservation Trust to develop new tools and approaches to monitor kea populations and their movements across the landscape.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s known that kea fly large distances, an improved understanding of their movement patterns helps the design of effective predator control and other management measures.<\/p>\n
Early trial results confirm young kea are travelling from lowland forests on the West Coast to alpine areas and across the Southern Alps\/K\u0101 Tiritiri o Te Moana. <\/p>\n
For example, one young bird was tracked flying over 30km from its nest in lowland forest at \u014ck\u0101rito to Chancellor Hut, perched above Fox Glacier\/Te Moeka o Tuawe.<\/p>\n
A kea sits on a reader at the Chancellor Hut toilet. Photo \/ DoC, Rose Lanman<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Predator Free South Westland and Te Manahuna Aoraki Project predator eradication work underway in this area is benefiting kea and will give this flock of young birds a good chance of survival,\u201d Weston said.<\/p>\n
Predators such as stoats and feral cats are a big threat to kea, which nest and forage on the ground.<\/p>\n
A kea at Red Tarns, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. Photo \/ Department of Conservation<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we see kea numbers increase in places like Aoraki, we ask people to help keep kea wild and safe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are out naturing, you can help by giving kea space, not feeding them and keeping your belongings secured so they don\u2019t attract curious kea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young kea, typically aged 1-4 years, form \u201cteenage gangs\u201d to socialise, play and learn to forage and navigate their environment. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s safety in numbers, with flocking also reducing the risk of predation. <\/p>\n
When birds reach sexual maturity at 3-4 years old, they settle down to find a mate and establish territory.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Department of Conservation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThis is the largest flock of kea I\u2019ve seen at Aoraki or anywhere,\u201d she said. \u201cCombined with increased…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[39725,25629,101609,1975,6726,19976,4194,22195,177045,94796,130965,3242,10919,13233,118453,10048,3556,111,43,139,69,8143,45373,5202,1974,108935,1961,22974,54949,54,145796,6746,4741],"class_list":["post-329299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-39725","tag-alpine","tag-aoraki","tag-at","tag-become","tag-birds","tag-cook","tag-doc","tag-farflying","tag-flock","tag-kea","tag-large","tag-logging","tag-mount","tag-movements","tag-mt","tag-national","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-park","tag-parrot","tag-part","tag-record","tag-tags","tag-this","tag-track","tag-travels","tag-trial","tag-unusually","tag-visiting","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}