kea

¹ American  

[key-uh, kee-uh] / ˈkeɪ ə, ˈki ə /

noun

1. a large, greenish New Zealand parrot, Nestor notabilis.

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Kea ² American  

[key-ah, kee-uh] / ˈkeɪ ɑ, ˈki ə /

noun

1. Keos.

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Kéa ¹ British  

/ ˈkɛa /

noun

1. transliteration of the Modern Greek name for Keos

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Kea ² British  

noun

1. (in New Zealand) a member of the junior branch of the Scouts

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kea ³ British  

/ ˈkeɪə /

noun

1. a large New Zealand parrot, Nestor notabilis, with brownish-green plumage

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Etymology

Origin of kea

Borrowed into English from Maori around 1860–65

Example Sentences

The next highest votes went to the kea, which got 12,506 votes; and the kakaruia or black robin, which followed closely with 11,726 votes.

From BBC • Sep. 28, 2025

Rounding out the top five were the kea, kākāpō and the fantail.

From BBC • Nov. 14, 2023

At least one major zoo, at Chester, said it would close while Bristol Zoo said squirrel monkeys, kea parrots and red pandas were being fed frozen ice lollies filled with vegetables, leaves or mealworms.

From Reuters • Jul. 19, 2022

In “The Bird Way,” Jennifer Ackerman takes a detailed look at the lives of birds — including their parenting strategies — like the bowerbird, the cuckoo and the kea.

From New York Times • Aug. 27, 2020

But the kea is also a wretched pest, for it has learned how to kill sheep since the sheep-herders came to New Zealand.

From Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania by Gilson, Jewett Castello