Kākāriki
common name for three species of birds
The three species of kākāriki (also spelled kaakaariki, without macrons), or New Zealand parakeets, are the most common species of parakeets in the genus Cyanoramphus, family Psittaculidae. The most commonly used name kākāriki is Māori in origin meaning "small parrot" (from kākā ‘parrot’ and riki ‘small’); it has also been used to refer to the colour green because of the birds' predominantly green plumage. The patches of red on the birds' rumps are, according to legend, the blood of the demigod Tāwhaki.
The three species on mainland New Zealand are the yellow-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus auriceps), the red-crowned parakeet, or red-fronted parakeet (C. novaezelandiae), and the critically endangered Malherbe's parakeet or orange-fronted parakeet (C. malherbi – not to be confused with Eupsittula canicularis, a popular aviary bird known as the orange-fronted conure, orange-fronted parakeet, or half-moon conure).
Habitat
All above species are endemic to New Zealand, and have become endangered as a result of habitat destruction following human settlement and nest predation by introduced mammals. Scarce on the mainland, kākāriki have survived well on outlying islands. They are easy to breed, but as with all protected native species in New Zealand, a license from the Department of Conservation is required to keep them in captivity—though they, along with lizards, are the only protected native species for which a license allows them to be kept privately (neither for public display and advocacy nor for breed and release for conservation purposes).
Mitochondrial DNA analysis has indicated that the orange-fronted parakeet is a separate species and not just a colour variation of the yellow-crowned parakeet. The orange-fronted parakeet is highly endangered, with less than 200 individuals remaining in the North Canterbury region of the South Island. Furthermore, Chatham Island's yellow-crowned parakeet and the red-crowned populations of New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, and the subantarctic islands have been determined to be distinct species.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Kākāriki” as common name for three species of birds. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as common name for three species of birds. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q939446. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kākāriki” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.