Is this the cleverest bird in all the world?
It's an endangered parrot from New Zealand - called a kea.
To cope with life in these mountains,
it needs a clever game plan, and all the right moves.
So is the kea a mere pawn in the game for survival?
Or is it clever enough to invent its own rules?
The majestic mountains of the Southern Alps
are on every New Zealand tourist's "must see" list
especially since "The Lord of the Rings" was filmed here.
But it isn't orcs or trolls you need to watch out for¡­
there are other, more real perils.
Keas are famous as vandals.
What makes these birds behave so badly?
Is it nature, or nurture?
In Fox township, on the seaward side of the southern alps,
keas patrol the streets.
What could be more charming than a flock of playful parrots on parade?
But these birds are armed, and dangerous
The kea's powerful feet and claws can snatch and grab most objects,
while that wicked-looking beak acts like a Swiss army knife,
combining cutting blade, chisel, pliers and a full cutlery set.
Equipped with weapons of trash destruction,
keas are an invasion force to be reckoned with.
In this raid telecommunications are the target¡­
Keas show little respect,
even if there is something worth watching on the television.
"But these are their burrows ¡­
and inside..."
The problem for the long-suffering householder
is that these rare native birds enjoy full legal protection.
So there's a limit to what can be done,
within the law, to keep them at bay.
The only option is to try to kea-proof everything in sight.
Buses¡­
Bins¡­
¡­ even cars¡­
Nonetheless, wiring up your roof to the mains seems a little over the top!
Even a truck needs protection...
The kea's appetite for playful mischief seems insatiable.
But is that all it is?
Or is there more to the kea's mind than simple curiosity?
Just watch this kea raiding a wheelie bin!
It is using its brain as a chess player does,
to work out a sequence of moves,
which logs need to be shifted in what order to allow it to open the bin.
And it isn't just clever;
it has brawn as well as brains.
This isn't a trick the bird was taught.
This kea is a wild creature.
It figured out the problem without any human prompting¡­
A perfect opening gambit!
Observations of intelligent behaviour like this
have brought scientists from across the world
to test the kea's abilities in its natural habitat,
in Mount Cook National Park.
In this test, the wild kea is offered some butter
¨C a favourite kea treat
¨C sandwiched between two plastic cylinders.
It can only get the reward
by dismantling the apparatus in exactly the reverse order in which it was assembled.
This would tax the ingenuity of a monkey, or even a young child.
After a bit of trial-and-error,
the kea has solved the puzzle.
Meanwhile, another bird is watching,
and learning from the first kea's moves.
When it comes to the onlooker's turn,
it emulates the first bird's actions.
solving the problem to claim its own reward.
Next, a test of joined-up thinking.
A wild kea is unlikely to have seen a puzzle like this before,
yet it takes it just minutes to claim the prize.
Taken one step further,
this apparatus invites the bird to create a simple mental map
to figure out which string it needs to pull.
Most other animals would use trial and error
¨C but the smart kea goes straight to the solution.
Impressed, the scientists devised an even more challenging problem.
In Europe, a number of zoos and research establishments keep keas in captivity,
but it's hard to prevent such sharp-minded creatures
from becoming bored and frustrated in a cage.
Presented with puzzles to solve,
captive keas tackle them with enthusiasm.
In all the examples we have seen so far,
the birds are solving a problem to get a reward¡­
But what if the test is designed so the bird can't win by itself?
The outcome now depends on teamwork.
One bird needs another to pull the string
so it can claim the food.
Time after time,
the keas show they can co-operate.
Keas aren't impressed by our rules.
If there's a way to cheat,
they're sure to work it out.
In the wild, this ability to learn and interact as a team
is the key to their survival in a harsh mountain environment.
So how does a young kea develop these core skills?
Is it instinct or education?
Keas pair for life,
nesting in tunnels among the rocks in inaccessible corners of the Southern Alps.
Inside the nest, the female rears up to four chicks,
feeding them on food collected by her mate,
which he has pre-digested.
Growing babies remain in the nest for around three months
until they are fully fledged.
They are certainly going to need all those warm, fluffy feathers¡­
Their first winter in the mountains
is a testing time for young, inexperienced birds.
Snow flurries can appear suddenly at any time,
sending the temperature plummeting.
It's hard to find anything to eat in all this snow,
even for a clever parrot.
Only a third of these youngsters will make it through their first year.
Their best chance of survival is to band together,
so that if one finds a new food source, all can share.
But however tough the conditions,
nothing seems to dampen the keas' spirits¡­
Young keas enjoy an extended childhood.
They don't begin to breed until they are three to five years old.
This gives them lots of time to learn through social interaction and play.
No other bird plays as much as the kea.
This rough and tumble
not only helps young birds to develop crucial physical skills,
it also allows them to sort out their place in the social hierarchy.
During the first year or so after fledging,
young keas fly around in gangs.
Free from the responsibilities of parenthood
they cruise the mountain ranges,
checking out the action,
and discovering where they can find food.
Keas can only make a living by investigating everything in their range.
In these wild mountains,
the game of survival is more complicated than chess¡­
The harsh climate means that most native plants have only a brief season
in which they produce flowers and fruits
The young birds need to learn
to exploit each food resource in the short time it's available.
From autumn through to spring
wooded valleys provide them with leaves, buds and fruits
from a range of different plants.
An enquiring mind is the key to a full belly.
Keas are known to eat at least a hundred different types of plants
and to do that
a young bird has to absorb a huge amount of information.
During the southern summer,
once the snow has retreated,
they can move up into the alpine meadows above the treeline.
But while plants are a key resource in the mountains
it costs a lot in terms of calories to harvest them.
However, there are other food options¡­
These burrows were made by Hutton's shearwaters,
a seabird that nests in the mountains.
Inside is a plump, half-grown chick.
The keas know this,
and also that the parent birds are likely to be away until nightfall,
collecting food.
It isn't hard to spot the keas' game plan¡­
And guess what its next move is likely to be.
No other parrots behave as predators in this way.
For a kea, the key to survival is to be versatile,
bold, and ready to exploit any opportunity
When European settlers arrived in these mountains
they could find only one use for such rugged terrain¡­
Flocks of introduced sheep changed the ecology of the alpine grasslands.
The birds were forced to turn to alternative food sources.
Under cover of darkness,
keas found it easy to attack defenceless flocks,
pecking open the sheep's back to get at the rich fat deposits beneath.
Sheep worrying was to prove a disastrous move for the kea.
The mountain parrot became New Zealand's most wanted outlaw,
with a price on its head.
Kea hunters were able to exploit the kea's curiosity
to lure it to its own destruction.
A bright fire on a hillside at night was an irresistible attraction,
especially to younger birds.
Tens of thousands of keas were shot,
and the species came close to extinction
before it was given legal protection.
A hundred years on,
keas no longer need to worry about men with guns¡­
The men these days carry ice axes.
These snowy slopes are a favourite with mountaineers.
Every weekend sees an invasion of city dwellers
kitted out with crampons on their feet,
and down-filled jackets to keep out the cold.
The keas' mountain gear is just as hi-tech.
Their plumage has a dense layer of down next to the skin.
And by regulating blood-flow to their feet,
they are able to conserve body heat,
and prevent their toes from getting frostbite.
What keas don't have
is any way of halting human encroachment on their mountain home¡­
The New Zealand Alps are great for winter sports.
Resorts like this have become a Mecca for skiers,
bristling with development and heaving with eager holidaymakers¡­
Their natural boldness, curiosity and opportunism
allow keas to move in
and take full advantage of the ski fields during the winter months.
Outdoor cafes and restaurants are just one big smorgasbord.
It doesn't take hungry birds long to develop a taste for fast food.
And strong drink¡­
A curious kea will try anything¡­ once!
Experimentation, rather than instinct, is the hallmark of intelligence.
This is far from bad for them.
The high calories in junk food are just what is needed
to supplement their regular diet of plants and berries.
Better nutrition during the winter nesting season,
means that those keas which breed close to the ski resorts
are increasing their numbers.
But although they have learnt to accept the presence of people in their mountain home,
keas are still wild birds,
and they maintain their outlaw traditions
Far from being pawns in the game of survival,
they have proved to be tough competitors,
using their intelligence to cope with new challenges,
and gaining popularity
as cheeky symbols of New Zealand's premier mountain playground.
Keas have never played by the rules.
Their clever brain allows them to innovate and improvise
¨C creating their own game plan,
and modifying their culture to suit the demands of a changing world¡­
Even at its naughtiest,
we can't help but be charmed by the kea's sheer exuberance
and its seemingly endless appetite for play
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