Grey

This young kea was banded as a juvenile in Arthur's Pass village in March 2026. He flocked in to the village with another 25 or so young fledglings and juvenile kea - the first time so many kea have been seen in Arthur's Pass village since 2022. The children of a near-local school in Greymouth (Grey Main School) had a vote and come up with the name 'Grey' for this kea. The name 'Mawhera' was a close second place (Mawhera is the Maori name for the Greymouth area). The reason behind this name choice is that the tamariki (children) relate to Greymouth ("our place") and their school name is Grey Main. They felt that this included the Tasman Sea and the mountains around them (thus Mawhera being so close). Their school colours are red and blue, so blue for the sky the kea fly in and red is close to the orange under their wings.