Viral videos on TikTok have captured the moment a native kea started pecking at a man's car in the South Island.
The magnificent coloured bird can be seen perched on the hood of his car, on a road in Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, making its way towards the rubber lining of the windshield.
The surrounding scenery displays tall mountains and green, orange and yellow foliage under low clouds.
"Hey dude, don't eat that, oi!" the man yells, as the kea latches on to the rubber with its beak.
The kea then looks up quickly and jolts its head to the side, eyeing up the man through the glass.
It stands up tall, showing off its display of feathers, much to the amazement of the driver.
"Wow, look at you," he exclaims breathlessly. "Holy moly."
The bird then goes back to eating at the rubber, to which the man responds: "Oi, no, please don't do that, I might need that later."
"Oi!" he exclaims for the third time. The bird hurriedly side-steps to the opposite side of the hood, and starts spitting out rubber pieces.
"Oh my god you actually stole some of my rubber," he says.
Another video shows the kea pecking at his car a second time.
"Please don't eat any more of my truck, I'm going to get into trouble," he exclaims.
"What would your mother say?" the man asks the bird.
"Don't do that, come on. You just behave yourself, you beautiful boy."
The man then winds down the window and starts filming the bird up close.
"You've got lovely plumage I must say."
A second kea then flies in and takes the bird's attention, who hops down to the ground.
Several people on TikTok took to the comments to share their reaction.
"Grand theft Aotearoa," one user commented.
"It's got two ankle bracelets on, double offender!" another joked.
"The worst offenders have multiple tags," a third added.
"Damn that bird is so badass it has ankle monitors," another said.
Others joked the situation had something to do with a recent competition.
"Probably pissed about the Bird of the Century results," one person commented.
"That's why you didn't win Bird of the Century!" another said.
Others agreed the cheeky kea had a "look of innocence" while pecking at the rubber.
"They are so naughty but so cute," one woman admitted.
"Kea's are just our friendly alpine roadside mechanics," another added.
"I wonder how much insurance is claimed each year because of these guys," a third said.
