Golden Parakeet
| Golden Parakeet | ||||||||||||
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Great Parakeet ( Neophema splendida ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Neophema splendida | ||||||||||||
| ( Gould , 1841) |
The golden parakeet ( Neophema splendida ) is an Australian parrot from the family of actual parrots . Of all grass parakeets, the golden parakeet has the furthest range into the Australian interior.
External features
Glossy parakeets grow to be around 20 cm long and weigh around 35 to 45 g, with the females being significantly lighter than the males.
In the wild-colored male, the upper side, vertex and tail feathers are green, the front head and upper wing covers are bright blue, throat and upper chest are scarlet red and the belly and underside of the tail are bright yellow. The beak is blackish, the wax skin blackish- brown, the eye ring gray, the iris brown and the legs dark gray.
The female is colored similar to the male. However, the color appears a little paler overall. They also have a yellow breast and whitish stripes under the wings.
distribution
Golden Parakeets live in the arid, desert-like areas of the southern inland of Australia, where they inhabit shrubby acacia and eucalyptus stands . Their distribution is closely tied to arid mallees . They prefer the regions that have only sparse soil vegetation.
Glossy parakeets are quite rare in the wild and have even been declared extinct , but rediscovered in 1931 .
Keeping in human care
Because of their splendor of color, glossy parakeets are cared for in human care by the hundreds of thousands. Most of the golden parakeets kept are descended from a few hundred individuals caught in Australia before 1939. The ornithologist Joseph M. Forshaw , who specializes in Australian parrots, describes the high number of Golden Parakeets now being cared for by humans as impressive evidence of the high reproductive rate that these animals have under suitable conditions. As inhabitants of arid habitats, they brood as soon as they are offered suitable conditions. They therefore often breed two or three times a year.
There are now many mutation colors in the Golden Parakeet. The color range varies from dark to cinnamon (the green plumage colors have a brown tinge). Also Lutinos or albinos observed.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
literature
- Joseph M. Forshaw : Australian Parrots. 1st German-language edition. Volume 2, Arndt-Verlag, Bretten 2003, ISBN 3-9808245-2-7 .
Web links
- Neophema splendida in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 2 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings on Neophema splendida in the Internet Bird Collection