SCIENCE & RESEARCH | Research & Monitoring
The remarkable story of BRUCE.
The kea rewriting the RULES.
One remarkable bird. Understanding kea INTELLIGENCE.
Bruce's extraordinary ability to adapt has captured attention around the world — but his story is also contributing to something much bigger.
Research involving Bruce and other kea at Willowbank is helping scientists explore the intelligence, behaviour, adaptability and complex social lives of one of Aotearoa New Zealand's most remarkable native species.
Through The Willowbank Foundation, we want to build greater support for this research — helping researchers learn more about kea, the environments they need to thrive and the knowledge that can ultimately contribute to their conservation in the wild.
THE STORY
Meet BRUCE.
Bruce arrived at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve after being found as a juvenile at Arthur's Pass in 2013, missing the upper half of his beak. The exact cause of his injury is unknown, although researchers believe it may have resulted from an accident involving a pest trap. After being cared for by the South Island Wildlife Hospital, Bruce came to live at Willowbank.
What happened next made Bruce internationally significant.
Despite his disability, Bruce developed his own ways of doing things. He learnt to manipulate food using his tongue and lower bill and, remarkably, began selecting small pebbles and using them to preen his feathers.
Willowbank keepers first noticed the behaviour in 2019. Researchers subsequently studied Bruce and found compelling evidence that his pebble use was deliberate and innovative. In more than 90% of observed instances when Bruce picked up a pebble, he used it to preen; when he dropped one, he retrieved or replaced it 95% of the time. No other kea observed in the group used pebbles for preening.
The findings were published in Scientific Reports in 2021, providing the first scientific evidence of a kea using a tool for self-care and demonstrating the remarkable flexibility of kea problem-solving.
And Bruce's contribution to science hasn't stopped there.
THE RESEARCH
Still teaching us MORE.
In 2026, Bruce was at the centre of another published study — this time led by researchers from the University of Canterbury in collaboration with the Institut de Neurociències at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Researchers investigated how Bruce interacts socially with the other kea at Willowbank and found that he had developed an unusual strategy that allowed him to thrive within the group despite his disability. The study provides another fascinating insight into kea cognition, behavioural flexibility and social dynamics.
Bruce demonstrates exactly why opportunities to study kea matter.
By observing how individual birds learn, adapt, interact and respond to their environment, researchers can continue building our understanding of this highly intelligent but threatened species.
One remarkable bird — continuing to teach us more about an entire species.
WHY IT MATTERS
There is still so much to LEARN.
Bruce's story gives us an extraordinary insight into what kea are capable of — but there are still important questions to answer about the species as a whole.
Understanding how kea behave, interact, learn and respond to their surroundings is one part of a much bigger conservation picture.
Research can also help us better understand how kea use different environments, what they need to thrive, the pressures affecting their populations and how habitats and conservation management can better support them.
The more we understand, the better equipped we are to make informed decisions for their future.
Research gives us the opportunity to turn curiosity into knowledge — and knowledge into better conservation.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Where do kea GO?
Bruce is helping researchers understand kea intelligence, adaptability and social behaviour — but there is still much to learn about kea in the wild.
Where do they travel? How do they use different habitats? What influences breeding and survival? And what do kea need to thrive?
Following kea across the LANDSCAPE.
New technology is helping answer some of these questions. A DOC research programme involving 420 tagged kea is revealing how birds move across the South Island landscape — including one young kea recorded travelling 40 kilometres across the Main Divide.
Alongside research into populations, breeding, habitat and behaviour, this is helping build a clearer picture of how kea live and the environments they depend on.
From Bruce to the WILD.
Research at Willowbank gives scientists opportunities to explore how kea think, learn, adapt and interact, while research in the wild helps us understand their movement, habitats, populations and survival.
Together, these different pieces of knowledge can help inform how we care for and protect kea into the future.
From one remarkable bird to wild populations — the more we learn, the better we can help protect their future.
MAKING IT POSSIBLE
Creating opportunities to DISCOVER.
Willowbank Wildlife Reserve provides researchers with something particularly valuable — the opportunity to observe a social group of kea over time, supported by experienced wildlife staff who know the birds and their individual behaviours.
Bruce's published research shows what can happen when wildlife expertise and scientific curiosity come together. Research undertaken at Willowbank has already contributed new knowledge about kea tool use, problem-solving, adaptability and social behaviour.
Building knowledge. Supporting RESEARCH.
The Willowbank Foundation wants to help grow that opportunity — connecting researchers, partners and funding with projects that deepen our understanding of kea.
As this work develops, there is potential to support research and monitoring across areas such as behaviour, cognition, habitat, population health, breeding and the factors influencing kea survival.
OUR GOAL
Learning more to protect their FUTURE.
Our goal is to build greater support for kea science and research — creating opportunities for researchers to continue learning from the kea at Willowbank while contributing to the wider understanding of the species.
By learning more about how kea think, behave, adapt and interact with their environment, we can help build the knowledge needed to inform their conservation into the future.
The more we understand, the better we can protect.
SUPPORT KEA RESEARCH
Bruce has already changed what we know about kea — and there is still so much more to DISCOVER. Your support can help The Willowbank Foundation grow kea research and scientific collaboration, creating opportunities to explore their behaviour, habitats and populations and build knowledge that can contribute to their future in the wild.
SUPPORT KEA RESEARCH