New Zealand Endemic birds, Kea and Kakapo.

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Typica Gardener 


Last Friday, I was with a new entrance class, and Penny the teacher read a book about the Kea. , They once flew to the lowland and

 dug chunks of meat on sheep's bacck. The farmers shot


 them. Now they are protected birds and they are the only 

mountain parrots. It is attracted by shiny things and keys. 


http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/

New Zealand is home to several highly peculiar endemic parrots, with three similar-looking species being of particular interest: the Kakapo Strigops habroptila, KeaNestor notabilis, and Kaka N. meridionalis.

The kakapo is the rarest parrot in the world. It’s flightless, it’s the world’s heaviest parrot, it's possibly the oldest living bird and it has a subsonic mating boom that can travel several kilometres.

By the middle of the 20th century the kakapo was a lost species, Because of Polynesian and European colonisation and the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, and stoats,the Kakapo was almost wiped out. The Kakapo is critically endangered; as of February 2010, there are 122 of them.

Hello,
VERY exciting news...we are just one of 2 schools in Auckland who have been invited to take part in the DOC Words on a Wing event.
2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity.
Last Thursday 5th August a giant Kakapo arrived at our school and will live in the school office for 2 weeks.
During that time we want as many children and parents and members of our school community to write a small message about Biodiversity onto a feather and attach it to the bird.
Our Year 5+ 6 children have done tons of learning around Biodiversity last term and for the other classes it can be a simple message along the lines of...

* I have a waste free lunch
* I walk/bike/scooter to school
* I recycle my paper
* I turn off the light when I leave the room
* I turn off the tap when I brush my teeth
Words on a Wing enables young people throughout New Zealand to write messages about biodiversity and attach them to a giant kākāpō, and is an opportunity to tell world leaders why biodiversity matters to them, what they want leaders to do about its loss, and what they are doing to enhance biodiversity.”