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An overlooked gem of the parrot family, the Kakariki is one of the most playful, intelligent and beautiful parrots available. They are extremely inquisitive and constantly on the move. Always up to something, their comical antics will always shock and amaze you and they are affectionately known as the clowns of the parrot world. While they're not renowned for their talking ability, they do have the ability to talk and can learn words and phrases if trained. Life spans vary, however, the average is about 10 years. The Kakariki is originated from New Zealand. The name Kakariki was given to him by the Maori and it means ‘little parrot’. It is the only species of bird who does not use his beak to walk up the chicken wire or round the cage bars.

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Kakariki's are considered a hypo-allergenic bird. That means that they do not have dust / dander, but rather oil glands for preening. They also love to take constant baths. This makes them the perfect pet if you have allergies as there are no dust particles to trigger your allergies.

Found in a wide variety of habitats, including dense temperate rainforests, coastal forest, scrubland, forest edges and open areas. Kakariki are usually solitary or live in permanent pairs, they are known to frequently join with other pairs and their young, and have been known to form small flocks in the autumn and winter. Their Calls are distinctive, in flight or when alarmed, a prolonged repetitive series of notes. When feeding they emit subdued notes, while perched calls are three syllable notes. Calls are the same/similar for all species.

Their inability to scream and their quiet nature as compared with some of their similar sized and larger parrots, make them ideal for pets.

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There are 6 different species of Kakariki and several sub-species like:   

1.Green Kakariki

2.Red capped Kakariki

3.Kermadec red capped Kakariki

4.Chatham red capped Kakariki

5.Yellow capped Kakariki

6.Orange fronted Kakariki

7.Black fronted Kakariki

8.Brown fronted Kakariki

Also there were the: Antipodes red fronted Kakariki

Macquarie red fronted Kakariki

Norfolk red fronted Kakariki

Lord Howe red fronted Kakariki

New Caledonian red fronted Kakariki

Some people refer to these as fronted but there also known as crowned and capped.

 

 

Yellow-crowned/capped Kakariki (Cyanoramphus auriceps): Yellow Capped: Length of male 23 cm average, female is usually slightly smaller, with a smaller beak. Average weight 55g, females are usually slightly lighter. The overall colour is green, with a yellowish green on the chest, abdomen and underneath the tail. On the crown there is a narrow red band that reaches down to the eyes, The crown yellow. There is a red patch on both sides of the rump. Outer flight feathers are purple-blue. The iris is orange red and the feet are grey. The beak is pale grey with a black point. Cock beaks are larger and wider than the Hens.

With the yellow capped Kakariki we know there is a sub-species, namely the Chatham yellow capped Kakariki.

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The Chatham yellow capped Kakariki has a yellow crown and lives on the isle of Chatham. This species is very seriously threatened; they can be found on the little island Mangere in the Chatham Island group. This bird is slightly different from the species of New Zealand because the red frontal line does not expand to the eyes.

Forbes Kakariki looks similar to a yellow capped but is only found on Mangere island in the Chatham group of islands.

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Red Crowned/capped Kakariki (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae): Red Capped: The length of the male is 28cm on average. the female is usually slightly smaller at 25cm, with a smaller beak. The average weight of the male is 80g, average female weight is 70g This conspicuous red marking on the head contrasts with the predominantly green colour of the rest of the body, though yellow mutations are occasionally found in the wild. The underside of the wings is blue-violet, the beak is grey-blue, getting darker at the tip, the eyes are orange. Cocks beaks are larger and wider than the hens.

There are a number of other sub species of red capped Kakariki that are found on various islands around New Zealand, including the Chatham Islands, Antipodes Islands, Macquarie Island, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and New Caledonia.

The red capped prefers to inhabit relatively open spaces in and around forest areas and frequently forages on the ground. It also prefers lower altitudes than the yellow capped species. The Antipodes Island parakeet occurs only on the Antipodes Islands.

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Orange-fronted Parakeet, also known as

Malherbe’s Parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi): The orange fronted: The length Male is 28cm on average. the female is usually slightly smaller at 25cm, with a smaller beak. The average weight of a male is 80g, average female weight is 70g. The orange fronted Kakariki was thought to be a colour variation of the yellow capped Kakariki, but is now confirmed as a distinct species. Orange fronted are small, green, long-tailed with a blue green wash to their under parts.

The crown is a lemon yellow and the frontal band, which reaches the eye, is orange, as are two patches on each side of the rump. The orange band tends to have a brighter hue in males. young are duller, especially the frontal band and capped patch, which can be absent.

Orange fronted are found in forest valleys in the South Island: The Hawdon and Poulter valleys in Arthur’s Pass National Park and the south branch of the Hurunui valley in Lake Sumner Forest Park. They are erratically distributed within these valleys. On the South Island, orange fronted Kakariki's occur exclusively in the forest from the valley floor to the alpine zone. While they have been recorded in subalpine tussock and open matagouri shrubland, they are predominantly found in forest. Orange fronted typically feed high in the canopy, but will also frequent low vegetation and the ground. Dense regenerating bush is also popular, especially with the young. Orange fronted.

 

 

Hybrid Yellow/Red Capped

It's very common for some to mistake the orange fronted with the mixed yellow/red capped you will see from the picture above that it is much different the cap is orange due to the mix of species not just the front like the true orange fronted.

 

Antipodes Island species

(Cyanoramphus unicolor): The Antipodes Island species has an entirely green head and is the largest species, it is the largest of the Cyanoramphus (Kakariki) species, 31cm long which is 3cm more than the New Zealand red-crowned parakeet.  The Antipodes Island parakeet is the only member of the Kakariki family with all green colouring, and without a coloured frontal head band. It is part of the Psittacidae family of parrots and parakeets, which belongs to the Psittaciformes order of birds.  The Antipodes Island parakeet was listed as 'vulnerable' in 2009 known as the green parakeet it lives only on Antipodes Island, one of New Zealand's remote, bleak and inhospitable subantarctic islands. The Antipodes Island parakeet breeds very unusually on the ground like a rabbit.  Its nest is in a well-drained burrow a metre deep in the fibrous peat under tussock grass. Just two eggs are laid for the season between November and January.

In contrast to the loud chatter of other Cyanoramphus birds, the Antipodes species are quiet, when startled only lets out a single note call.

 

Extinct for sure: Are the black fronted Kakariki, the brown fronted Kakariki, and from the sub species, the Lord Howe red capped Kakariki, and the Macquarie red capped Kakariki.

Kakariki were widespread in the 1800s across the South Island and several records exist for the North Island, Hen Island and Little Barrier Island during this period. Along with both yellow capped and red capped. There were large numbers during the late 1800s across the Canterbury Plains. This was probably a result of heavy beech seed seasons, this led to a prolonged breeding season. The birds were shot in vast numbers due to their feeding on domestic fruit orchards, and also the introduction of predators such as rats, cats, stoats and weasels, is also attributed to their decline, in addition to competition for food and breeding sites from introduced birds. Kakariki were persecuted for damaging crops and gardens.

The status of both the red and yellow capped is vulnerable, or threatened, but good predator control and habitat recovery has resulted in an improved status. Orange fronted are stated as being very low in numbers. European settlement and conversion of forest to farmland has probably contributed significantly to the species decline, with clear felling, logging and burning of forests drastically reducing available habitat.

When I talk about these birds later in the book, I will only address the red and yellow capped, as these are the main 2 species. Any sub species of these two are in general the same in regards to breeding, food and housing.

 

Transmutations: Transmutations are mutations which are transferred from one specie to another. Today most mutations of the Red Crowned are also in the Yellow Crowned. Thus we see Cinnamon and pied in both species.

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More recently we have the Blue and Cream mutations.  A wild example of the Blue Kakariki was caught around 120 years ago and is stuffed and mounted in the New Zealand history museum. the ones we see today came from a brother sister pairing in Germany from two green birds in 2011. Their young and the adult pair was bought by a top breeder in Germany and the blue strain established. The cream mutation quickly followed and more colours are expected to come through in the next few years.

 

Today the Cream's, Cream Pied, Blue pied, and Blues are becoming more common place and at the moment are relatively expensive in comparison to their red and yellow capped relatives. The more common place they become the price will decrease and will soon be within the reach of the average person’s pocket.