Kea and Mt Cook Buttercup

Meet my new favourite clown.

I paired these two because both species in their own right are smarty pants.

Scientists believe Kea are as smart as a 4 year old, they are very inquisitive birds, there have even been Kea playgrounds erected in area’s where roadworks are being completed near known Kear habitats to distract them from moving road cones. Kea are very social, and curious they also have been known for hassling sheep so farmers would shoot on site, their numbers have started increasing since they became protected. Juvenile Kea are easy to distinguish by their yellow nostrils and yellow rings around their eyes.

Mt Cook Buttercup was originally called the Mt Cook lilly because of the Big dark leaves that grow at its base. Recently reclassified as from the buttercup family. This special NZ native is ‘smart’ because it has adapted to its harsh alpine environment by having stomata on both sides of it’s leaves instead of just the underneath. Automatic controls in the leaves will close the lower stomata when the rocks warm up and open the upper ones where it is cooler to prevent the leaves from loosing water. At the end of the day, the stamata on the underside will reopen once the rocks cool down.

Limited Edition: 50 images in A4
Print is A4, on 300msg card stock

Limited Edition: 10 images in A3
Print is A3, on 300msg card stock included white matt edges