The yellow crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus auriceps) has a distinct patch of bright yellow feathers on the top of the bird's head (the crown), which separates it visually from its close relatives, the red-crowned and orange-fronted parakeets. Endemic to New Zealand, the bird is widely known by its traditional indigenous name, kākāriki. Known for living high in forest canopies and making a rapid chattering sound, when in flight, the wings reveal a striking bluish-purple or blue leading edge. Once extremely common throughout New Zealand, it is now rare or uncommon in most places on the mainland, though it is still common on some predator-free islands and in a few valleys in eastern Fiordland and west Otago.
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