We all have giant kea stories. They suck, this is nothing new. Giant kea swiped two artifacts from my current fort. Whatever. I was a bit angry with them, but this is just how it goes.
I believe that the kea were disappointed in my lack of rage, however.
The fort's first goblin siege arrives, and I am woefully unprepared. Only one small squad of melee dwarves, and the magma trap was still under construction. The invaders were fifteen bowmen, and a pikeman on a giant olm. I had no answer to the arrows, and feared I would lose the fort.
But, a heroic flock of giant kea entered the map and swooped down to intervene. Circling above the goblins, the kea dove down and snatched the bundles of arrows right out of the goblins' quivers! The goblins, apparently confused, did not retaliate. The flock flew off with their prizes, and over half of the goblins had been rendered nearly harmless by the kea. My melee dwarves crushed the siege.
I was feeling pretty good about giant kea now. In fact, I had one in a cage that I was hauling to the surface for release, rather than the execution that I had planned. A bit later, another flock of kea appeared. I figured I'd let them swipe a wheelbarrow or two, because honestly they deserved it.
And only then, having earned my trust, did the dastardly kea throw their true nature back in my face like so much offal:
That was a legendary miner, one of my original seven. Choked to death by a kea wing.