Kākāriki: Red-crowned Parakeet (3 min read)
Kia ora e hoa - hello my friend☀
Last weekend I shared photographs of the wildlife on Tiritiri Matangi Island, and you’ll read in more detail about them over the next few weeks. We’ll start with the kākāriki, the first manu (bird) to be introduced to the island, back in 1974 (fifty years ago!)1.
The word kākāriki always reminds me of the te reo Māori colour song from primary school - do you remember that? For those of you who aren’t familiar with te reo (or the song) kākāriki also means green, and as you can see from the photo below, the name references the bright green colour of these parrots. Kākāriki also refers to some of Aotearoa’s green geckos.2
There are five main species of kākāriki: Yellow-crowned parakeet, Orange-fronted parakeet, Red-crowned parakeet, Forbes' parakeet, and Antipodes Island parakeet. They can be identified by different coloured patches on their forehead, sometimes extending to their eyes.3
The species I saw on Tiritiri Matangi is the red-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae). They are a chattery bunch and I could hear them long before I saw them, but they also startled easily so it was hard to get close enough to observe or photograph them. They tended to gather in flocks, and my first glimpse of them was feeding on the track ahead of me.
Before visiting Tiritiri Matangi, I read up on what birds I might see and which tracks would be best to take. Along the tracks there was more information and one of them suggested that harakeke (New Zealand flax) often attracted kākāriki.
As we are well into spring the harakeke is starting to flower, so I chose a detour that included a large planting of harakeke and was rewarded with the sight of several kākāriki. Tūī, tieke, and korimako also love feeding on these nectar-rich flowers so if you have space in your garden they are well worth adding in.
Kākāriki are omnivorous, so as well as nectar they also eat seeds, flowers, fruit, and insects.4
Red-crowned parakeets - like most of our manu - have declined due to habitat loss, hunting, and predation. They used to be common across the motu (country) but are now found mainly on predator-free islands, and sanctuaries like Zealandia.5 There are small populations dotted around the country, however, as can be seen on eBird.
Introduced predators are the biggest threat, particularly because kākāriki nest in burrows in the ground, amongst foliage, or in trees.6 With increased predator control, and sanctuaries that can provide safe homes, we might be able to see a continued increase in their populations - maybe enough to one day see them in our gardens!
Happy gardening,
Zenobia x
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Thanks for the edifying review of the kakariki...and the diversity of Tiritiri Matangi Island.