Video of a curious kea helping pop open a man's beer bottle has been met with a warning from the Department of Conservation.
The video was posted online by Napier man Ryan Jennings today, from a trip to Fiordland with friend Alex Stuart.
The two men were staying at a couple of Department of Conservation huts and headed out early in the morning for a Milford Sound tour.
When they arrived just after 8am, the duo were too early to even get a pie from a local café, so decided to wait it out in their car. Then the kea descended.
"Being the only ones there, the kea came and started playing on our car. They were pretty curious and weren't afraid or anything, so we just sat there watching them," Mr Jennings told 1 NEWS.
In the video, one cheeky bird can be seen leaning its head inside the car as the window is opened a crack.
When the beer bottle is brought up to the window, the bird pops the top off and saunters away.
"We thought we may as well put their talent to use," Mr Jennings joked.
"It was pretty amazing, we're both from the North Island so haven't encountered those birds before. We thought it was pretty awesome seeing how curious they were and how friendly they were.
"They were bouncing around on the windshield and trying to pull off the wipers and stuff, it was pretty amazing to see that."
While the bottle cap can be seen disappearing out the car window in the video, Mr Jennings says they made sure they picked it up to properly dispose of it before they continued on their way.
Kea are notorious for misbehaviour around tourists, including ripping bits off vehicles left in carparks within their territory.
The snow has arrived early down south, but these travellers and one hardy parrot don’t seem to mind.
A Department of Conservation spokesperson told 1 NEWS they try and discourage people interacting with the birds.
"While they are charismatic, studies show that kea in areas where they are fed regularly are more at risk from pest control and accidents with man-made objects such as cars," they said.
"The birds' endearing and mischievous behaviour can cause conflict with people, and damage to property especially around campsites and carparks."
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