We spent some time at Nga Manu sanctuary on the Kapiti Coast yesterday enjoying the birds, the wildlife and the lowland bushwalks.
I posted two photos from our visit here.
One of the most special moments in our visit was spending time in the walk-through Kea aviary. They had been fed 30 minutes earlier which may have accounted for some of the loud calls we heard as we were enjoying other aviaries on the path to their one.
The New Zealand Kea is one of our most colourful birds in terms of behaviour and it is also one of our endangered birds. It is unique because it is the only alpine parrot found in the world.
For a very extensive description of the Kea, plus exceptional photographs of this fascinating bird go here.
One of the Keas in the aviary was very sleepy after its food. The other was very intent upon preening to ensure any evidence of its recent meal was not on its feathers.
Keas have the most beautiful orange/red feathers beneath its wings and I narrowly missed a photo of this as my subject stretched and flapped its wings a little at one point.
Some evidence of this pretty colouration can be seen in this photo.
My subject was very happy to pose for a time but then decided the tree needed further investigation.
ordinarygoodness 
Great blog I really enjoyed reading it could you possibly check out mine 🙂 thanks xx
What beautiful colours….not too bright…..they look like very intelligent birds
Perfect colours for forest dwellers but with a striking splash of colour as they fly. They are very intelligent birds which gets them into some bother as they have adapted to human contact too well in part. They love pulling off rubber etc off cars, foraging in rubbish bins and some other tricks that are not so good for their health and well being.
I had no idea they had such gorgeous colours and patterns on their feathers.
Your comment sent me back to look more closely. There is much more than first meets the eye. It was very shaded in the aviary so their colours may well be brighter in the sunlight.
Some of those photos in your link were fabulous. Most of the photos we see in the media show the kea looking rather dull. But the colour under their wing span is phenomenal.
You have sent such an interesting post with the photos of those beautifully coloured keas. It’s a special experience to walk through a large aviary and feel you are part of the world of birds.
The Keas in this aviary were very happy for us to join them in their own world. I loved the photo of the Kea’s tail end disappearing around the tree he fancied a good peck at! I’m pleased you enjoyed reading about these unique forest parrots in all their beauty:-)