The native bird has come home to the hamlet which carries its name.
It was believed to be the first sighting of the bird in the small coastal town since early European times.
Retired teacher and Forest & Bird member Jim Young said there had been talk of the bird being spotted around the Catlins and South Otago over the past couple of months.
To confirm it, he managed to see one when he was in the Pounawea Camping Ground on Thursday, much to his surprise.
"I saw it there and thought maybe it was a wood pigeon. So I got 10m away, then 5m, and it didn’t move and I realised it was a kākā. It was eating fruit from a tōtara tree, loving it," he said.
The bird, perhaps the same one, had also been sighted in Kākā Point, lapping up a couple of feeding stations put up by residents.
The kākā did not appear to have a tag so the bird might have flown up from somewhere like Stewart Island, he said.
Kākā Point was named after the bird and they, along with other bird life, were in their abundance about 150-200 years ago.
But as farm land grew and pests turned up, numbers plummeted.
Happily, they appeared to have returned, he said.
Kākā primarily feed on fruits, seeds, nectar and insects and should never be given nuts.
