Otago residents are being asked to help count keas, the world's most intelligent - and possibly cheeky - bird, this winter.
Keas are also classified as endangered, and to get a better idea of how many there are, the Kea Conservation Trust is calling on people from around the South to take part in its annual winter kea count.
Known for its ability to strip a car of shiny trimmings, and ransack tramping boots of laces within minutes, the egregious kea is unique to the South Island.
The trust's chairwoman, Tamsin Orr-Walker, said the birds were quite high on the New Zealand endangered species list, but they were seen as a low priority.
Often spotted hanging around Wakatipu's skifields, the mountain-dwelling parrots are not found in the North Island and are an important attraction to visitors as they interact closely with humans.
Whether this is a beneficial relationship is not known - there is evidence there are as few as 1000 to 5000 keas left in the wild.
Though considered guardians of the mountains by Maori, early European settlers found the birds to be a stock-worrying pest.
There was even a bounty paid out by government for their beaks until 1971.
Ms Orr-Walker said as many as 150,000 of the birds were killed during that time and it was still unknown how the numbers had regenerated.
"They have mostly been left to themselves," she said.
The trust has been organising biannual counts of kea populations for the last two years - last winter more than 70 people registered across the South Island.
However, most of those were from around Nelson and Canterbury.
Very little information has been logged on the Wakatipu and Central Otago kea populations yet.
Ms Orr-Walker said the winter counts were "a fun thing to do - kea move down from higher places as food runs out; and they are also in their nesting phase".
Most keas people saw were either juveniles or adult males in lower areas such as in Arthurs Pass and around skifields where they knew there was a steady supply of food.
Last winter, the Arrowtown Scouts combined a winter camping badge exercise with a kea count in Mt Aspiring National Park.
They saw about five keas over a weekend - fewer than the previous year.
Mrs Orr-Walker hoped people would come to better understand the habits of the birds.
For forms and information about participating in the Kea Conservation Trust winter count, visit www.keaconservation.co.nz
