The Chatham kākā or Chatham Island kākā (''Nestor chathamensis'') is an extinct

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

species previously found on the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ; Moriori language, Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island, administered as part of New Zealand, and consisting of about 10 islands within an approxima ...

, New Zealand. The first individuals were thought to belong to the

New Zealand kākā New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

(''Nestor meridionalis''), but detailed examination of the

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

bones showed that they actually belong to a separate endemic species. The species became extinct within the first 150 years of the arrival of the

Polynesians Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sout ...

around 1500, long before any European settlers. No skins or descriptions are available.

Taxonomy

The Chatham kākā is assigned to the genus ''Nestor'' in the family

Nestoridae The New Zealand parrot family, Strigopidae,Nestoridae and Strigopidae are described in the same article, Bonaparte, C.L. (1849) ''Conspectus Systematis Ornithologiae''. Therefore, under rules of the ICZN, the first reviser determines priority, ...

, a small group of parrot species native to New Zealand. It is considered to have been more closely related to the kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') and the extinct Norfolk kākā (''Nestor productus'') than to the

kea The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...

(''Nestor notabilis'').

Ecology

The Chatham kākā was a forest dwelling species of about the same size as the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the kākā, ''Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis''. However, it had a much broader pelvis, enlarged legs, and a beak that was intermediate between kea and kākā. It had no natural predators (as it was bigger than the New Zealand falcon) and, as is often observed with such

island endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

s, it is believed to have been a poor flyer. This may have made it more vulnerable to human hunting by the Polynesians.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q860367 Nestor (genus) Extinct birds of the Chatham Islands Bird extinctions since 1500 Chatham kākā Late Quaternary prehistoric birds