A month-old baby kea is thriving at the Tracy Aviary after being shipped to Utah from the Denver Zoo while still in its egg.
Kea, scientific name Nestor notabilis, are endangered parrots native to the mountains of New Zealand’s South Island.
They are intelligent and curious, which can make them a nuisance to humans. Local governments in New Zealand paid bounties for killing kea until the practice was ended in 1970, according to a news release from the aviary.
Kea have been protected in New Zealand since 1986, but the government estimates there are still only 3,000 to 7,000 left in the wild. Current threats to kea include animals like cats and rats as well as exposure to pollutants from humans.
The Tracy Aviary was asked by the Denver Zoo to help incubate the baby kea in its egg because kea don’t raise their eggs well outside of their native territory, according to the news release. The egg was driven across state lines in a portable incubator and hatched March 26, three days after its arrival in Salt Lake City.
The chick is eating five meals a day and starting to shed its white, downy fluff for darker fluff and immature feathers. Its eyes are open and it can grasp objects with its feet.
It is not the first kea to make the Tracy Aviary its home. The aviary already has four adult kea, and is part of a program to breed the endangered birds through matchmaking with other zoos.
If you want to catch a glimpse of the baby kea, visitors can watch the chick eat on a TV monitor at the aviary between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Admission to the aviary is $11.95 for adults and $7.95 for kids under 13. Admission is free for infants two years and younger. Students, military and seniors can get in for $9.95.
