CreatureData

Kākā

Nestor meridionalis (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)

VUVulnerableparrots

The kākā (Nestor meridionalis) is a species in the family Strigopidae, order Psittaciformes. Recorded adults weigh 400 g to 458 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Kākā (Nestor meridionalis)
Photo: Small · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the kākā

Weight
400 g – 458 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
4 – 4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the kākā live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The kākā is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the kākā?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The New Zealand kākā (Nestor meridionalis) is a large species of parrot of the family Strigopidae found in native forests of New Zealand. The species is often known by the abbreviated name kākā, although it shares this name with the Norfolk kākā and Chatham kākā, both recently extinct. Two subspecies of New Zealand kākā are recognised. It is endangered and has disappeared from much of its former range, though the re-introduction of North Island kākā at Zealandia in Wellington has led to an increasing population of the birds across the city.

From the Wikipedia article “Kākā” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=K%C4%81k%C4%81&oldid=1381382524), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the kākā endangered?

The kākā is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the kākā classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPsittaciformes
  5. familyStrigopidae
  6. genusNestor
  7. SpeciesNestor meridionalis (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)

Synonyms Psittacus hypopolius, Psittacus meridionalis, Psittacus nestor

Other names and names in other languages (48)
  • New Zealand KakaEnglish
  • New Zealand KakaEnglish
  • New Zealand KākāEnglish
  • كاكاArabic
  • Kaka (evn)Breton
  • kaka de Nova ZelandaCatalan
  • nestor kakaCzech
  • cacaWelsh
  • Kaka (fugl)Danish
  • WaldpapageiGerman
  • Kako (birdo)Esperanto
  • kako-nestoroEsperanto
  • KakaSpanish
  • kaaka (kaakapapagoi)Estonian
  • کاکای نیوزیلندPersian
  • Kaka (lintu)Finnish
  • Nestor superbeFrench
  • Kaka (ptica)Serbian (Latin)
  • קאקא (ניו זילנד)Hebrew
  • נסטור דרומיHebrew
  • parti keaHungarian
  • parti kea / kakaHungarian
  • új-zélandi kakaHungarian
  • カカJapanese
  • 카카 (새)Korean
  • rudasis nestorasLithuanian
  • Шинэ Зеландын какаMongolian
  • Łeesdísí Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ tsídii yáłtiʼí łibáhígííNavajo
  • Kaka (vogel)Dutch
  • Fuglen kakaNorwegian Nynorsk
  • (nestor) kakaPolish
  • کاکاWestern Panjabi
  • kakaPortuguese
  • caca-neozelandêsPortuguese
  • KakáPortuguese
  • kaká-neozelandêsPortuguese
  • КакаRussian
  • Нестор-какаRussian
  • Кака (птица)Serbian
  • Novozelandski kaka papagajSerbian
  • kaka (fågel)Swedish
  • นกแก้วคาคาThai
  • Yeni Zelanda KakasıTurkish
  • Кака (птах)Ukrainian
  • нестор білоголовийUkrainian
  • Vẹt kaka New ZealandVietnamese
  • 卡卡啄羊鸚鵡Chinese
  • 白顶啄羊鹦鹉Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the kākā

Other species in the same genus Nestor.

EN, Endangered
Kea (Nestor notabilis)

Kea

Nestor notabilis

Strigopidae

CompareKākā vs KeaKākā vs Norfolk KakaKākā vs Chatham island Kaka

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the kākā?

An adult kākā weighs 400 g – 458 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the kākā live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the kākā for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the kākā endangered?

The kākā is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the kākā?

The kākā (Nestor meridionalis) belongs to the family Strigopidae in the order Psittaciformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Kākā (Nestor meridionalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/k-k

MLA

“Kākā (Nestor meridionalis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/k-k.

BibTeX
@misc{k_k_2026,
  title = {Kākā (Nestor meridionalis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/k-k},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}