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Footedness in North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis)

  • Publication Type

    Journal Article

  • Publication Year

    2009

  • Author(s)

    S. McGavin

  • Journal Name

    Notornis

  • Volume, Issue

    56, 3

  • Pagination

    139-143

  • Article Type

    Paper

  • DOI

    https://doi.org/10.63172/865285zmdzug

Keywords

footedness; Karori Sanctuary; laterality; Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis; North Island kaka


Footedness in North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis)

Notornis, 56 (3), 139-143

S. McGavin (2009)

Article Type: Paper

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North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis) often hold food in either their left or right foot when feeding. I observed kākā at Zealandia – Karori Sanctuary in Wellington in order to determine whether kākā show laterality (specifically footedness) when holding food. Laterality was seen at the individual level, i.e. individual kākā tended to consistently use the right foot or consistently use the left foot to hold food. However, there was no significant population level laterality, i.e. a similar proportion of the kākā showed bias towards using the left foot as the right foot. The kākā I studied were banded with a wide band on 1 foot and 2 narrow bands on the other foot. There did appear to be a population level bias towards holding food in the foot banded with the single wide band, but the reason for this was unknown and further study is needed.