Lone kākā visits residential Rotorua garden

Tina Muller spotted a rare kākā in her backyard on Monday afternoon.

A kākā made an unusual appearance among a group of hungry tūī in Tina Muller’s kōwhai tree and stayed for a photo before flying off.

The Rotorua woman said she was “amazed” when the large, dark bird started moving.

“I realised with the curved beak that it was a parrot of some sort, and instantly I thought it was a kea, but when you look closely it’s not got kea colours.”

She had lived with her husband Ken in the suburb of Westbrook for more than 40 years and said this was the first time she had seen a kākā.

“I’ve seen kea in the South Island, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kākā anywhere,” Muller said.

This kākā visited Tina Muller's Rotorua garden. Photo / Tina Muller

The New Zealand kākā is a large species of parrot belonging to the Nestoridae family.

“It’s wrecking my kōwhai tree,” Muller said.

“It’s also pecking at the branches, which I hadn’t realised they did,” she said.

She noticed the damage to one of her kōwhai trees after the kākā visited again on Tuesday.

The Mullers planted six kōwhai in their backyard more than 20 years ago to attract tūī and had enjoyed their visits in those years.

“At the moment the tūīs are either mating or chasing each other for something, they’re zooming through the trees together in pairs,” Muller said.

”I’m not a twitcher, but I do love birds, and I do love seeing them.”

Other Rotorua locals have reported kākā sightings on social media.

Rhys Burns, a biodiversity technical adviser at the Department of Conservation (DoC), said kākā were sometimes seen in Rotorua during the winter and early spring.

“In small numbers, about one to five birds.”

The closest permanent population of kākā was on the Mamaku plateau at the Mokaihaha Ecological Area.

Kākā numbers may have increased because of pest control efforts and DoC’s aerial 1080 operations every three years, Burns said.

“The Rotorua district probably lacks sufficient high-quality breeding habitat with effective predator control, which could explain why kākā do not remain in the city during the summer breeding season, returning instead to their remaining breeding sites.

“Community conservation efforts aid this species through predator management, particularly by creating fenced sanctuaries like Maungatautari,” he said.

“Kākā are known to fly great distances, and these birds could come from Tuhua (Mayor Island), Coromandel, or even further afield. The kākā are behaving like the birds reported in Waikato at this time of year.”

Aleyna Martinez is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty. She moved to the region in 2024 and has previously reported in Wairarapa and at Pacific Media Network.