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 