As our bus pulled deliberately over to the side of the road, we were met with the sight of three chubby green birds sitting nonchalantly on the ground just a few feet away. They had been waiting for us.
Kea have been called everything under the sun because they are extremely smart and have surprisingly bold personalities. I don't understand why people get annoyed when kea rip out the soft components of their cars (i.e., windshield wipers, upholstery) or pilfer unattended food and clothing, because they're just trying to have a little fun. I think it's adorable, as long as no precious kea is ever hurt in the process.
In the past, kea were horribly mischaracterized as sheep killers, and a bounty was placed on their dead bodies, which reduced their population by possibly hundreds of thousands in just a few years. Now there are maybe 2000 left in the wild. Kea are in fact vegetarian, eating only the occasional insect or grub. Thankfully, humans have come to their senses, and the kea is now a protected -- and rightfully appreciated -- species.
In picture 78, a kea perched himself on the roof of an SUV as the driver was getting in. As the SUV drove off, the kea sat calmly in place, much to the amusement of us tourists. He rode the SUV for quite a distance before finally flying off.
These are curious, playful parrots that live in the mountains, and their calls are a sweet, high-pitched "keeeaaaa, keeaaaaa!" Hence the Maori name. They seem to like attention, love posing for pictures, and adore large vehicles. The last photo shows a kea attacking the METAL mud flap of our oversized tour bus. If that's not cheeky, I don't know what is.
One thing the photos do not show is the underside of the kea's wings, which are a completely unexpected shade of bright reddish orange. You see it only when the kea extend their wings, something they rarely did around us. Instead, they seemed content to skip and waddle around like little bumbling clowns on their severely pigeon-toed feet.
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