An unusually large flock of kea in Mount Cook National Park has become part of a new trial aimed at tracking the movements of the endangered alpine parrot.

Department of Conservation science staff and rangers recently caught and tagged 31 birds from a flock of about 36 kea spotted at Red Tarns above Aoraki Mount Cook Village.

Each bird was fitted with a leg band containing a tiny microchip, allowing researchers to monitor their travels as they move through the Southern Alps.

DOC Senior Science Advisor Kerry Weston said the group is the largest flock recorded at Mount Cook since kea surveying began in 2019. Most of the birds were young, recently fledged kea.

“This is the largest flock of kea I’ve seen at Aoraki or anywhere,” Weston said. “Combined with increased sightings of kea around the park, it’s a positive sign that the local population may be increasing.”

The microchipped leg bands are scanned by solar-powered readers installed on hut roofs and other sites kea commonly visit. The technology allows scientists to track the birds’ movements automatically when they land near the readers.

So far, around 420 kea have been fitted with RFID tags during the past two summers. Thirteen scanning stations have been installed across Mount Cook and Westland national parks, with more planned for huts run by the New Zealand Alpine Club and other conservation areas.

Early data already shows kea are travelling large distances across the Southern Alps. One bird from the recent flock had flown about 40 kilometres from Whymper Hut on the West Coast, while another previously tracked kea travelled more than 30 kilometres from a nest near Ōkārito to Chancellor Hut above Fox Glacier.

DOC says understanding these long-distance movements will help inform predator control efforts and other conservation measures, as stoats and feral cats remain major threats to kea that nest and forage on the ground.

Visitors to alpine areas are also being reminded not to feed kea and to secure their belongings to avoid attracting the curious birds.