Cheeky kākā: uninvited house guests for surprised Wellington homeowners

Saturday, 14 May 2022

A kākā at Zealandia sanctuary. (File photo)

A kākā sitting on her heater when she walked into her house was not quite what Wellington’s Libby Allwood was expecting to see.

But that’s the winged intruder she found in her house one day last week.

“I came into the TV room, and the cat was staring at the wall, which turns out to be a kākā,” Allwood said.

She lives across the road from Zealandia ecosanctuary’s predator-free fence in Karori with her family. Allwood reckons the bird must’ve climbed through an open window, but it did nothing except to sit on the heater and stare at the cat.

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A kÄkÄ climbed through an open window and ended up in Libby Allwood's house in Karori, where it had a staring match with the family's cat.

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The kākā soon flew out after the family opened the doors.

A kÄkÄ wandered into Allan Wright's old flat in Kelburn last September after examining his duvet on the deck.

It was a surprising because it was the first time that a bird had turned up inside their house, said Allwood, but the family “didn't mind the kākā”.

However, they are not the only Wellingtonians who have received an unannounced visit from the cheeky native parrot.

Allan Wright lived in a Kelburn flat last year and kākā were a regular presence on the deck because the house was close to Zealandia and there was a kōwhai tree nearby.

Researcher Dr Racheal Shaw has created a feeder to correctly position kākā for their headshots. One correctly poses for its head shot, and another has a quick taste of the lens.

But a kākā was feeling adventurous one day last September after examining Wright’s duvet on the deck.

“It walked from the deck into the lounge and started to check out inside the house,” Wright said. “They might be expecting some kind of food.”

It was the first time that a bird wandered into the house, he also said, because they were more attracted to the little plastic toys that the children from upstairs dropped onto the deck.

The kākā’s exploration didn’t last long – Wright gently shooed the bird away and found the experience “pretty funny”.

Researcher Rachael Shaw says feeding by humans are likely why kākā wander into houses.

Kākā had been extinct in the Wellington region for over 100 years, until six captive-raised birds were released in the Zealandia wildlife sanctuary in 2002.

Since then, the native parrot has bred and spread across the Wellington region, with the number of times it was seen during bird counts rising by 250 per cent between 2011 and 2021.

However, the growing population started to strip bark from non-native trees such as pines, which became a source of nuisance to Wellingtonians and an overhead hazard to bush walkers.

Kākā can be spotted on Kāpiti Island. (File photo)

Kākā researcher, Dr Rachael Shaw, is a lecturer in behavioural ecology at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. She had a similar encounter, when one of her friends left the door open at her house and one made it inside the lounge.

But there is also a concern about the kākā’s boldness, she said, because it could be a result of people feeding birds on their balconies.

“It’s one of the by-problems of feeding,” Dr Shaw said. “They could associate houses with foraging opportunities if people give them food.”

And they could get used to the easy pickings. “They might be habituated with human presence and stop perceiving humans and houses as risky environments.”

She also said increasing kākā presence inside houses could create “dangerous” situations for birds and humans alike, as pets could attack the birds, while the kākā’s sharp beaks could damage property.

In case a kākā wandered into your house, Dr Shaw said the first thing was to stay calm and avoid any sudden movements, while talking to them in a normal voice also helps.

“Kākā are very intelligent birds. If they can find the way in, they can find the way out.”

Zealandia’s Conservation and Restoration Manager Jo Ledington said people should hold back from feeding kākā if any were hanging around houses.

“Providing food of any kind means that energy normally used for foraging isn’t used, resulting in kākā having more energy for getting into mischief,” she said.

“If you want to support kākā and other native species as they disperse from Zealandia, the best thing you can do is plant natives in your garden and trap for pests.”