KEY POINTS:
The Department of Conservation is concerned at the discovery of dead kaka in a populated area of Great Barrier Island.
Matt Cook, the acting area manager, said at least two decomposed kaka had been discovered, and there had been reports of other dead birds at the southern end of the island near Tryphena.
Mr Cook said that while it was possible the native parrots had died from natural causes, there had been allegations in the past that people had poisoned the birds.
"It's pricked our antennae."
Mr Cook said the birds found dead were too decomposed to be sent for autopsies.
There were a lot of juvenile kaka around at the moment, which presented an innocent explanation that some had not been able to survive on their own.
However, it was also the time of year that fruit such as apples were coming on stream and the birds were known to get into orchards and eat the produce.
Mr Cook said it was possible some residents could be poisoning the birds to protect their crops.
The birds, which are nationally threatened, were also quite large and noisy, he said.
Mr Cook said there was a healthy population of kaka on Great Barrier but they were rare on the mainland, usually only found on very large forest tracks.
Anyone caught harming the birds risked fines of up to $100,000 or up to six months in jail.
