K??k??
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[Photo] Kaka (Nestor meridionalis) on Kapiti Island in New Zealand. Photo taken by Duncan Wright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Sabine%27s_Sunbird
The K??k??, Nestor meridionalis, is a parrot endemic to the forests of New Zealand. There are two subspecies, the North Island K??k??, Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis, and the South Island K??k??, N. m. meridionalis. The name K??k?? is a M??ori language word meaning "parrot".
Description
The K??k?? is a medium sized parrot, around 45 cm in length and weighing about 550 g, and is closely related to the Kea, but has darker plumage and is more arboreal. The forehead and crown are a greyish-white in colour and greyish brown nape. The neck and abdomen are more reddish, while the wings are more brownish. Both sub-species have a strongly patterned brown/green/grey plumage with orange and scarlet flashes under the wings; color variants which show red to yellow coloration especially on the breast are sometimes found.
The calls include a harsh ka-aa and a whistling u-wiia.[1]
Behaviour
Diet
The K??k?? feeds on fruits, berries, seeds, flowers, buds, nectar and invertebrates. It has a brush tongue with which it feeds on nectar, and it uses its strong beak to dig out the grubs of the longhorn beetle.
Conservation status
The K??k?? is considered vulnerable (CITES II). It has greatly declined, in part from habitat loss, in part because of introduced wasps and possums, which compete with the K??k?? for honeydew, which is excreted by scale insects. Research has shown that this honeydew is very important for breeding birds, especially those breeding in southern beech forests. The difficult nature of controlling the wasps makes the K??k??'s future very uncertain. A closely related species, Nestor productus, the Norfolk Island Kaka, became extinct in 1851.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81k%C4%81
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