Seychelles Parakeet
| Seychelles Parakeet | ||||||||||||
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Seychelles parakeet ( Psittacula wardi ) |
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| Psittacula wardi | ||||||||||||
| ( E. Newton , 1867) |
The Seychelles parakeet ( Psittacula wardi ) is an extinct species of parrot from the genus of the noble parakeet . It was endemic to the Seychelles . The type epithet refers to Swinburne Ward , the British civil commissioner in the Seychelles from 1862 to 1868.
features
The Seychelles parakeet reached a length of 41 centimeters. The male's head was green. The back of the head and neck were washed out blue. The chin and an indistinct line between the eyes and the wax skin were black, as was a broad stripe on the cheeks that ran from the beak to the nape of the buttocks. The belly was greenish yellow. There was a purple-red stain on the elytra. The top of the middle tail feathers was blue with yellowish tips. The outer tail feathers were green. The tail covers were yellowish. The beak was red with a yellowish tip. The iris was yellowish. The feet were gray. The female looked like the male. It differed in the absence of the black cheek stripe and in the completely black color of the beak.
The Seychelles parakeet was smaller and had a more powerful bill than the Alexander parakeet. Other distinguishing features were the purple shoulder patches and the absence of the pink neck band.
Occurrence
The Seychelles parakeet was found on the islands of Mahé , Silhouette and probably also on Praslin .
die out
When it was first described scientifically in 1867, Edward Newton noted that the Seychelles parakeet was almost extinct. In March 1880 and June 1881, the bird collector HM Warry hunted the last three specimens documented in the wild (two females and one juvenile male). The last known specimen died in human care on Silhouette Island in 1883. When the British ornithologist Michael John Nicoll visited the Seychelles in 1906, he was unable to find any more specimens. The forests where the species once occurred had to give way to coconut plantations. In addition, the parakeets were shot by the farmers for causing damage in the corn fields. There are a total of ten copies in museum collections.
Systematics
The Seychelles parakeet was often considered a subspecies of the Alexander parakeet ( Psittacula eupatria ) due to the similar neck band . However, it is not known whether there is actually a close relationship with the Alexander parakeet, as there is no skeleton of the Seychelles parakeet and a DNA analysis of the existing museum material was never carried out.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Walters & Julian Pender Hume: Extinct Birds . Poiser Monographes (A & C Black), 2012. ISBN 978-140-815-725-1 , pp. 174-175.
- ↑ Julian Pender Hume: Reappraisal of the Parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, With Comments on their Ecology, Morphology, and Affinities. In: Zootaxa 1513, 2007. pp. 1-76
literature
- Julian Pender Hume: Reappraisal of the parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with comments on their ecology, morphology, and affinities. Magnolia Press, Auckland, New Zealand. 2007. ISSN 1175-5326 ( PDF abstract )
- Greenway Jr., JC, 1967: Extinct and vanishing birds of the world. Dover Publ. Inc., New York.
- Rothschild, LW; 1907: Extinct Birds Hutchinson & Co., London.
Web links
- Psittacula wardi in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: Bird, J. & Butchart, S., 2008. Accessed on November 3 of 2008.
- Lexicon of Parrots
