{"id":3412,"date":"2023-03-04T21:05:30","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T08:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/?p=3412"},"modified":"2023-03-14T14:28:01","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T01:28:01","slug":"kea-and-speargrass-of-the-wilkin-otanenui-valley-makarora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/?p=3412","title":{"rendered":"Kea and Speargrass of the Wilkin \u014ct\u0101nenui Valley, Makarora"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Kea, Aotearoa’s endangered alpine parrot <\/strong>Nestor notabilis<\/em> is partial to the roots of Aciphylla<\/em> (speargrass) such as Aciphylla kirki<\/em> <\/strong>and Aciphylla hectori<\/em> <\/strong>(endemic to New Zealand). Aciphylla<\/em> plants are a unique feature of the alpine flora of New Zealand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a pleasure to observe this natural kea behaviour in the Wilkin \u014ct\u0101nenui Valley. The combined use of their feet and bill for trimming and preparing this snack was quite outstanding to observe. Not surprising as the kea is known to be the world\u2019s smartest bird (its intelligence rivals that of a monkey) according to the Institute of Cognitive Biology in Vienna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Immature kea (female) feeding on speargrass (March 2022)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Kea pair feeding on speargrass root on the \u014ct\u0101nenui Range<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

*Turns out that this species of Aciphylla kirkii\/hectorii (not easy to distinguish between the two) hasn’t yet been recorded this far north and is therefore a possible expansion to it’s existing known range. Botanist’s from Te Papa are interested to find out more about this species group as part of a national study, re-examining the number of Aciphylla species and this initial observation by ABT’s Rachel Hufton has led to their upcomming visit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Kea (male)with Aciphylla in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Aciphylla species (female)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ABT’s Kea observations<\/strong> to date within the Makarora and Wilkin catchment (since 2017) estimate the current local population to be between 39-41 birds<\/strong>. During late autumn and winter the occassional kea can be noted visiting residental areas of the Makarora Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certain species of endemic Aciphylla are know as important taonga to M\u0101ori\u00a0with significant cultural and historic value. Taramea, a treasured M\u0101ori perfume of Ng\u0101i Tahu is obtained from the resin of a Aciphylla (speargrass) species of Aotearoa. The taproot of a smaller type, called papa\u012b was a food source but not used as fragrance. Speargrass are dioecious, meaning that there are separate female and male plants with visually different structure. The above image shows a female plant fruiting in the Wilkin Valley. Research on\u00a0taramea,\u00a0both M\u0101tauranga M\u0101ori and Western science, further defining its biological and chemical properties, is on-going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaria Dobson-Waitere, Robin MacIntosh, Matapura F. Ellison, Bruce M. Smallfield & John W. van Klink (2022). Taramea, a treasured M\u0101ori perfume of Ng\u0101i Tahu from Aciphylla species of Aotearora New Zealand: a review of M\u0101tauranga M\u0101ori and scientific research. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Vol: 52. 2022 Issue 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huber, L., Gajdon, G. Technical intelligence in animals: the kea model. Anim Cogn<\/em> 9<\/strong>, 295\u2013305 (2006).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I-Naturalist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand (2023). An introduction to speargrasses \u2013 plants with a prickly reputation. https:\/\/blog.tepapa.govt.nz\/2023\/01\/20\/an-introduction-to-speargrasses-plants-with-a-prickly-reputation\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kea, Aotearoa’s endangered alpine parrot Nestor notabilis is partial to the roots of Aciphylla (speargrass) such as Aciphylla kirki and Aciphylla hectori (endemic to New Zealand). Aciphylla plants are a unique feature of the alpine flora of New Zealand. It was a pleasure to observe this natural kea behaviour in the Wilkin \u014ct\u0101nenui Valley. The … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Kea and Speargrass of the Wilkin \u014ct\u0101nenui Valley, Makarora”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[65,64,66],"class_list":["post-3412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alpine-parrot","tag-kea","tag-speargrass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aspiringbiodiversity.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}