Kea
Nestor notabilis Gould, 1856
The kea (Nestor notabilis) is a parrot in the family Strigopidae, order Psittaciformes, class Aves. It is a small bird with a representative adult body mass of 863 g, and reported values from 779 g to 956 g.
Quick facts about the kea
Its diet category is omnivore and its trophic level is herbivore; it is a perching, sedentary bird of grassland habitat. The kea is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- 779 g – 956 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 48 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 14.4 years – 47 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.5 – 2.75src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the kea?
Photos of the kea
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the kea 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 kea is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the kea?
The kea ( KEE-ə; Māori: [kɛ.a]; Nestor notabilis) is a species of large parrot in the family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About 48 cm (19 in) long, it is mostly olive-green, with brilliant orange under its wings, and has a large, narrow, curved, grey-brown upper beak. Its omnivorous diet consists mainly of roots, leaves, berries, nectar, and insects, but also includes carrion. It was once killed for bounty due to concern by sheep farmers that it attacked livestock, especially sheep. The kea is now uncommon, and received absolute protection under the Wildlife Act in 1986.
The kea nests in burrows or crevices among the roots of trees. Kea are known for their intelligence and curiosity, both vital to their survival in a harsh mountain environment. Kea can solve logical puzzles, such as pushing and pulling things in a certain order to get to food, and will work together to achieve a certain objective. They have been filmed preparing and using tools.
From the Wikipedia article “Kea” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kea&oldid=1381174762), 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.
What does the kea sound like?
Is the kea endangered?
The kea is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.
How is the kea classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPsittaciformes
- familyStrigopidae
- genusNestor
- SpeciesNestor notabilis Gould, 1856
Other names and names in other languages (32)
- كايArabic
- nestor keaCzech
- CeaWelsh
- ΚέαGreek
- Κέα (πτηνό)Greek
- KeoEsperanto
- keo-nestoroEsperanto
- kea (keapapagoi)Estonian
- کیاPersian
- KéaFrench
- Nestor kéaFrench
- קיאהHebrew
- נסטור הררי קיאהHebrew
- hegyi keaHungarian
- hegyi kea / keaHungarian
- ミヤマオウムJapanese
- ಕಿಯಾ ಗಿಣಿKannada
- 케아앵무Korean
- papūga kėjaLithuanian
- കീMalayalam
- Łeesdísí Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ tsídii yáłtiʼí diłhiłígííNavajo
- (nestor) keaPolish
- quiaPortuguese
- papagaio-da-nova-zelândiaPortuguese
- KiyaQuechua
- КеаRussian
- Kea papagajSerbian
- కియాTelugu
- คีอาThai
- นกแก้วคีอาThai
- 啄羊鸚鵡Chinese
- 啄羊鹦鹉Chinese
Relatives of the kea
Other species in the same genus Nestor.
New Zealand Kaka
Nestor meridionalis
Norfolk Kaka
Nestor productus
Chatham island Kaka
Nestor chathamensis
CompareKea vs New Zealand KakaKea vs Norfolk KakaKea vs Chatham island Kaka
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the kea?
The kea is a parrot, a bird in the family Strigopidae and order Psittaciformes.
How heavy is a kea?
An adult Kea has a representative body mass of 863 g. Reported values range from 779 g to 956 g.
What does the kea eat?
The kea's diet category is omnivore, and its trophic level is listed as herbivore.
Is the kea endangered?
Yes. The kea is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does a kea live?
The kea has a lifespan of 14.4 years, with values up to 47 years reported by sources.
Which countries is the kea recorded in?
Checklists record the kea in Australia. Its geographic range covers 63,270 km².
How many eggs does the kea lay?
The kea has 2.75 eggs per clutch.
Who named the kea?
The kea, Nestor notabilis, was named by Gould, 1856.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Kea (Nestor notabilis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/kea
“Kea (Nestor notabilis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/kea.
@misc{kea_2026,
title = {Kea (Nestor notabilis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/kea},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}