Bird Watching: Ever seen a wild Kea? , 1 by Jill1989

Jill1989 wrote:
I hadn't either until this spring, when I went to my bucket-list destination, New Zealand's South Island.
These birds are the world's only alpine parrots.
They are quite "cheeky" as the New Zealander's say.
Kea's will take the weather stripping from around a vehicle's windshield.
One Kea stole a visitor's passport and flew off with it.
These busy birds have been known to pull out bolts in doors of hiker's huts up in the remote mountain trails, leaving hikers stranded in the hut, until other hikers come by to let them out.
The Kea's call is their name-"kea" and they have bright orange feathers under their wings, contrasting their beautiful green plumage.
They are now protected as their numbers greatly decreased due to sheep ranchers thinking they'd do damage to the lambs.