Swallow Parakeet

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Swallow Parakeet
Swallow Parakeet

Swallow Parakeet

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Parrots (Psittaciformes)
Family : True parrots (Psittacidae)
Subfamily : Flat- tailed Parakeets (Plattycercinae)
Genre : Swallow Parakeets
Type : Swallow Parakeet
Scientific name of the  genus
Lathamus
Lesson , 1830
Scientific name of the  species
Lathamus discolor
( Shaw , 1790)

The Swallow Parakeet ( Lathamus discolor ) is a species of the real parrots and the only representative of the genus Lathamus or Swallow Parakeets . The scientific name honors the ornithologist John Latham . The German name Schwalbensittich refers to the fast and agile flight of these parrots.

Appearance

The swallow parakeet reaches a body length of 25 centimeters and weighs between 46 and 76 grams. Sex dimorphism is present, but not very pronounced.

The plumage of the males is predominantly bright green. It is lighter and a little more yellowish on the underside of the body. The forehead, throat and front half of the cheek are red and bordered by a narrow yellow band. The parting is dark blue. The anal region and the under tail-coverts are dull red. The under wing-coverts as well as the wing coverts and the small wing-coverts are bright red. The arm covers and the outer middle wing covers are blue-green. The coverts and the outer flags, on the other hand, are bluish purple. The individual feathers here have a fine, light yellow border. The underside of the tail is dark gray.

The female resembles the male, but is more dull in color. The red feather portion on the face is slightly less. The red feathers on the underside of the body are also limited to the flanks.

The swallow parakeet's flight is powerful and straightforward. The beats of your wings produce a so-called instrumental sound during flight, a clearly audible whirring noise.

distribution and habitat

Swallow Parakeets have a relatively large distribution area. They occur in Tasmania, the larger Bass Strait Islands and in southeastern Australia. In Australia, their distribution area extends from the southeast of the Australian state of Queensland over the east of New South Wales to Victoria and the southeast of South Australia .

Swallow Parakeets exhibit unusual migration behavior for parrots. They move from mainland Australia to Tasmania in September and breed on this island. They return to mainland Australia after the end of the breeding season, which falls around April and May. Swallow Parakeets cross a 300-kilometer stretch over the sea on their migration. They cover this distance in small groups of ten to twenty individuals during the day.

Swallow Parakeets occur in a large number of forested habitats, provided that they have a population of Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus ovata . They can also be seen regularly in more open habitats, provided that these two tree species are found there.

behavior

Swallow Parakeets occur predominantly and also during the breeding season in small groups or swarms between five to thirty individuals. They find their food mainly on the top branches of flowering eucalyptus trees. They actually only get onto the ground when they drink or pick up fallen seeds or flowers.

Swallow Parakeets, like Loris, feed mainly on bee pollen and to a lesser extent on flower nectar. Your tongue is adapted to this diet. It has brush-like papillae at its tip. They also eat fruits and berries from both native and introduced trees and shrubs, as well as immature grass seeds and insects and their larvae.

The couple bond lasts for several years. The animals are cave breeders who mainly use tree hollows in eucalyptus trees . The nest holes can be very close to each other. The average clutch size is 4.4 eggs. The female breeds alone, with the male providing the female with food. The nestlings are fledged at six weeks.

Systematics

The species was described by George Shaw as Psittacus discolor in a publication by John White in 1790 , but later classified as a genus of its own by René-Primevère Lesson .

The relationship of the species to the other species of the true parrot is unclear. They have been placed in the vicinity of the lories as well as those of the fig parrots and the flat-tailed parakeets in the narrower sense. The tongue has anatomical peculiarities at its tip, which are reminiscent of the brush tongue, which is characteristic of Loris. Biochemical studies have now confirmed that this species belongs to the subfamily of the flat-tailed parakeet .

Danger

The population of the species is strongly declining and it is classified by the IUCN as "endangered" ( endangered ). At the moment the population of the swallow-tailed parakeet is halving every four years and the extinction of the species within the next 20 years seems to be possible. Of all the endemic species in Tasmania, the swallow-faced parakeet, together with the orange-bellied parakeet, is the species with the smallest population. The likely cause of the decline is the loss of fodder trees as a result of clearing and the looting of the nests by short-headed gliding pouches ( Petaurus breviceps ). They are legally protected in their entire range.

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Forshaw, p. 552
  2. ↑ a b Forshaw, p. 557.
  3. ↑ a b Forshaw, p. 553.
  4. ^ Forshaw, p. 556.
  5. ^ Forshaw, p. 560.
  6. ↑ John White: Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of Non descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, curious Cones of Trees and other Natural Productions. London 1790.
  7. ↑ a b Robert Heinsohn et al .: A severe predator-induced population decline predicted for endangered, migratory swift parrots (Lathamus discolor). In: Biological Conservation. Volume 186, 2015, doi: 10.1016 / j.biocon.2015.03.006 , pp. 75-82.
  8. ^ Forshaw, p. 554.
  9. ^ Forshaw, p. 555.

literature

Web links

Commons : Swallow Parakeet ( Lathamus discolor )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files