Observation #2082
- When
- 2018-10-14 17:57:00
- Where
- Candys Bend, Mid South Island
- What
- Sighted 3 birds
- Status
- Verified (Public)
- Who
- Cherie
Details
Location Details
car park rest area overlooking the waterfall over the road and rock shelter for the state highway.
Comments
As these are popular stopping areas, signs not to feed Kea should be multi-lingual to say not to feed the Kea and to be careful of kea, especially when reversing. I have video also if it helps.
Behaviour
trying to eat car rubber. There was a number of antenna base rubber from cars. (I picked them up). Also on trying to pick these up to properly dispose one of the kea was a bit aggressive and wouldn't let me pick it up. I had to use some techniques to keep the kea from fighting me for it. They also tried to go for my keys. They seemed to have no fear of humans and would actually come up to me. Which was nice for photos but i think people must be feeding them - i don't know. They were also making a few kea noises. They were chewing on bits of smaller rubber, which i tried to remove as best as possible. I had to be super careful when driving off because they were not frightened away by the sound of the car starting or the horn. And I had to get out of the car to try to herd them away, and I got my friend to keep watch of their location while i was manoeuvring.
