Caroline Parakeet

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Caroline Parakeet
Conuropsis carolinensis

Conuropsis carolinensis

Systematics
Order : Parrots (Psittaciformes)
Family : True parrots (Psittacidae)
Tribe : New World Parrots (Arini)
Genre : Conuropsis
Type : Caroline Parakeet
Scientific name of the  genus
Conuropsis
Salvadori , 1891
Scientific name of the  species
Conuropsis carolinensis
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The Caroline Parakeet ( Conuropsis carolinensis ) is an extinct species of parrot from the subfamily of the New World parrots . The distribution area probably extended from the valley of the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico . Carolina's Parakeets lived in forests with old trees, along wooded rivers, in cypress swamps and open wooded areas. Their number declined drastically with the increasing colonization of North America through habitat changes, the settlement of European bees, hunting and trapping. At the beginning of the 20th century, only a few populations remained in Florida. The date of extinction of this species is usually given as February 21, 1918, when the last Carolinian Parakeet in captivity died. However, collection data from eggs in the wild indicate that the last animals existed in 1927.

Appearance

Adult Carolina's parakeets reached a body length of 30 to 32 centimeters. On the other hand, there is no information about their body weight.

The plumage of these parakeets showed no sexual dimorphism . Males tended to be slightly larger than females. The basic color of the plumage was green. The part of the head up to the nape of the neck, the ear covers and the chin were yellow. The front of the head and the eye area were plumed red-orange. The body plumage of adult Carolina's parakeets showed yellow spots on the thighs and the bend of the wing. The large elytra were olive-colored with a greenish-yellow edge. The hand covers were dark green. The tail, which was 14.2 to 14.7 centimeters long, was green on the top and gray on the underside. The broad beak was horn-colored, the wax skin at the transition from beak to head was feathered. The iris was brown, the eye ring was featherless and whitish. Legs and feet were flesh-colored.

Young birds differ from adult birds in that they have consistently green body plumage. Only on the forehead did they show individual, orange-red feathers.

voice

Carolina's parakeets have been described as very call-happy birds, whose loud and harsh calls are described as qui or qui-iii . These calls were particularly noticeable in flight. Flocks of these birds are said to have been heard miles away, according to the statements of people who still saw these birds in the wild.

Distribution area and habitat

Carolina's Parakeets in their natural habitat. Watercolor painted in situ by Karl Bodmer on December 6, 1832 in New Harmony . It is the only known representation of Carolina's parakeets in their natural habitat that was directly modeled on nature.
Print version of Bodmer's watercolor for the North America travel report by Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied . Noteworthy is the depiction of the animals' sitting behavior, which deviates from the watercolor in the print version and is more reminiscent of caged parrots.

The range of the Carolina's Parakeet is not completely secured. As far as we know today, the northern limit of distribution ran through southern Michigan and through the middle of the US state of New York . In the states belonging to New England , however, Carolina's parakeets did not occur. In a westerly direction of spread, Carolina's parakeets were found as far as the east of Carolina . The distribution area followed here to a large extent the valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries. In the south, the distribution area extended to the southern tip of Florida and the coastal region of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico . There is no evidence that wild Carolinian Parakeets ever appeared in what is now Canada or Mexico . However, there are bone finds of Carolina's parakeets from an archaeological site in Ontario , Canada , which are dated to the year 1100 AD. It is possible that these were wild birds, as the distribution area known from eyewitness reports in Michigan, Ohio and New York extended to near the southern border of Canada. However, it cannot be ruled out that live or dead Carolinian parakeets came there through trade among the indigenous peoples who originally lived there.

The preferred habitat of the Carolinian Parakeets were wooded rivers, as well as old plane trees and cypress swamps.

Way of life

Ornithologists who were able to describe the way of life of the Carolinian parakeets first-hand include Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied , Charles Bendire , Alexander Wilson , Charles Johnson Maynard and John James Audubon . They described the Carolina's parakeet's flight as elegant, graceful and very fast. John James Audubon wrote in 1831 about the characteristic flight pattern of the Carolina's parakeets, which live in large flocks:

When they get to a place with a rich supply of food, they do not land immediately like many other bird species, but first get an overview of the environment by flying over them in wide circles - first above the canopy, then slowly and slowly until they are [in flight] almost touching the ground, then suddenly ascending again and landing in the tree that bears the fruit they are looking for…. They usually land unusually close to each other. I've seen branches covered as tightly by them as possible.

The only North American parrot and its extinction

The Carolinian Parakeet died out for various reasons: More and more land was cultivated for agriculture , large forests were cut down and its habitat was destroyed. On the other hand, the parakeet found a new source of food, the fruits of the orchards and other agricultural products. They tore unripe apples and pears from the trees to get to the still tender, milky kernels. They fell upon sheaves of corn set up in fields in great numbers. The bird painter John James Audubon said of sheaves of corn completely covered by the colorful birds that they looked as if a shiny carpet had been thrown over them.

However, this preference was the birds' undoing, as they were now being persecuted as "pests". The bird was also kept as a pet and the ornate feathers were used for decorative purposes.

The ornithologists of the 19th century noticed a significant decline in the population. Already at the beginning of the 19th century they complained about its disappearance from previously settled areas, towards the end of the 19th century they expected it to be soon extinct.

The last wild bird died after 1927 in Florida , probably last in captivity live with the name Incas died on February 21, 1918 Zoo of Cincinnati , a short time after the death of his partner, with whom he lived for 30 years. Since then, this only parrot in North America has been considered extinct.

The Carolina's Parakeet was not very popular with bird keepers because it had an unpleasant and loud voice.

A subspecies, the Louisiana Parakeet ( Conuropsis carolinensis ludoviciana ), was last observed in 1912.

Carolina's Parakeets in Europe

Show specimen of the Caroline parakeet, Museum Wiesbaden

Perhaps the species would have survived in Europe , as there was a free-flying population there that went back to the ornithologist Hans Freiherr von Berlepsch , who kept this bird species from 1874.

In 1929 he reports on their end: “One day - it was just the last Christmas break - only a few were visible, and the next day they were all gone. Investigations were unsuccessful. The sad mystery was only solved a few decades later. In a village tavern 50 km away I found a number of smoky remains of Carolina's parakeets, and the landlord reported that Father blissfully shot these strange birds from the linden tree within two days. He still remembers his story that around those who fell first the others fluttered around again and again and thus allowed themselves to be destroyed to the last. So here too the song of the end of this rare bird. "

swell

Individual evidence

  1. Lantermann, p. 498 gives a body length of 30 centimeters; Jonathan Alderfer (ed.): Complete Birds of North America , National Geographic Society, Washington 2006, ISBN 0-7922-4175-4 , p. 309 mentions a body length of up to 32 centimeters.
  2. ^ A b Jonathan Alderfer (Ed.): Complete Birds of North America , National Geographic Society, Washington 2006, ISBN 0-7922-4175-4 , p. 309
  3. Lantermann, p. 499
  4. Lantermann, p. 498
  5. ^ Snyder, p. 6
  6. Snyder, p. 2 and pp. 6-7
  7. ^ Snyder, p. 7
  8. quoted from Snyder, p. 7
  9. The Big Book of Lists: The Date of Extinction of 8 Species of Birds. ISBN 3-471-79171-X
  10. ^ H. Baron von Berlepsch: The entire bird protection . Neudamm. 12th edition (1929)

literature

Web links

Commons : Carolina Parakeet ( Conuropsis carolinensis )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files