Species Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw, 1805)

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CAVS: 0310

Species Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw, 1805)

Budgerigar

Psittacus undulatus Shaw, G. in Shaw, G. & Nodder, F.P. (ill.) 1805. The Naturalist's Miscellany; or coloured figures of natural objects drawn and described immediately from nature. London : Nodder Vol. XVI pls 637-684. [text to pl. 673] [plate 673 of protologue dated Feb. 1805; perhaps known from only two specimens up to 1820: one in the W. Bullock Museum (?ex Leverian Museum and holotype), since dispersed, the other in the collection of the Linnean Society of London, probably collected by Robert Brown on Matthew Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia, see Kuhl, H. 1820. Conspectus Psittacorum. Cum specierum definitionibus, novarum descriptionibus, synonymis et circa patriam singularum naturalem adversariis, adjecto indice museorum, ubi earum artificiosae exuviae servantur. Nova Acta Phys. Acad. Caes. Leop. Carol. 10: 1–104 pls I–III [For publication date Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.] (49)—these specimens are untraced, see Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould 5 92 pls pp. [published Sept. 1841] (text to pl. 44); Salvadori, T. 1891. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Psittaci, or Parrots. London : British Museum Vol. 20 xvii 658 pp. XVIII pls (595); Sharpe, R.B. 1906. Birds. pp. 79–515 in, The History of the Collections contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 2. (414–416)—and their provenance cannot be specified more precisely than coastal south and west Australia, cf. continental distribution in Blakers, M., Davies, S.J.J.F. & Reilly, P.N. 1984. The Atlas of Australian Birds. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press/Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xlvi 738 pp. and concurrent description of Barnardius zonarius (Shaw, 1805) from Eyre Peninsula, SA].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost, figured on pl. 673 in Shaw, G. In Shaw, G. & Nodder, F.P. (ill.) 1791. The Naturalist's Miscellany; or coloured figures of natural objects drawn and described immediately from nature. London : Nodder Vol. III pls 75–110 pp. [publication dated as 1792]), coastal south and west Australia (as Australasia/New Holland).
Type locality references:
Schodde, R. in Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1997. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). In, Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia Vol. 37.2 xiii 440 pp. [151] (cf. Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171–455 [publication dated Jan. 1912, published 31 Jan.]; Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 6 pp. 445–516 + xix pls 317–324 [11 Dec. 1917] [475–476]).
Melopsittacus undulatus intermedius Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [280].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 623739 unsexed (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 1191), Alexandria, Barkly Tableland, NT (as Alexandra)
Comment: for identification and locality of holotype, see Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306.
Melopsittacus undulatus pallidiceps Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [280].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 623744 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 8757), Point Torment, King Sound, WA (as Port Torment)
Comment: for identification and locality of holotype, see Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. [191]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Throughout arid inland Australia, west to coast between Perth and King Sound, WA—north to central Kimberley Division, WA, Victoria River drainage and subcoastal ranges around Gulf of Carpentaria, NT to south-west foot of Cape York Peninsula, QLD—east to western foot-slopes of Great Dividing Range from Norman River, QLD to Grampians, VIC, erratically crossing the range towards coast on MacKenzie, Dawson, Burnett and Mary River drainages, QLD, on the Hunter and Hawkesbury drainages, NSW, and on the western plains, VIC—and south to south coast between the Coorong, SA, and Albany, WA—occasionally reaching Kangaroo Is., but irregular in all coastal regions.

Note that conversion of the original AFD map of states, drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones to IBRA and IMCRA regions may have produced errors. The new maps will be reviewed and corrected as updates occur. The maps may not indicate the entire distribution. See further details below.

IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones (map not available)

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

Australia
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Victoria
- Western Australia

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, granivore, gregarious, hummock grassland, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low shrubland, low woodland, nomadic, open scrub, sand hill desert, sand plain desert, tall open shrubland, terrestrial, tussock grassland, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Stony desert, seasonal breeder/opportunistic breeder, feeds on seeds mainly on ground in small to very large flocks, roosts in trees, flies directly with swift wing beats, nests on bed of wood dust in tree hollows, often colonially, incubation by female, both sexes rear pale grey-downed, cream-billed chicks, wanders widely across the continent to food sources, with marked southward shifts in spring-summer and northward shifts in autumn-winter.

General References

Brereton, J. Le G. 1963. The life cycles of three Australian parrots: some comparative and population aspects. Living Bird 2: 21-29 [Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385–499 + xii pls 363–370 Appendixes A & B] (general biology)

Brockway, B.F. 1962. The effects of nest-entrance positions and male vocalizations on reproduction in Budgerigars. Living Bird 1: 93-101 [Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385–499 + xii pls 363–370 Appendixes A & B [Appendix B]] (breeding ecology)

Brockway, B.F. 1964. Ethological studies of the Budgerigar: non-reproductive behaviour. Behaviour 22: 193-222 [Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385–499 + xii pls 363–370 Appendixes A & B (Appendix B)] (behaviour)

Brockway, B.F. 1964. Ethological studies of the Budgerigar: reproductive behaviour. Behaviour 23: 294-324 (reproductive behaviour)

Brockway, B.F. 1964. Social influences on reproductive physiology and ethology of Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Animal Behaviour 12: 493-501 [Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385–499 + xii pls 363–370 Appendixes A & B] (behaviour)

Brockway, B.F. 1965. Stimulation of ovarian development and egg laying by male courtship vocalisation in Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Animal Behaviour 13: 575-578 [Mathews, G.M. 1919. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 7 pt 5 pp. 385–499 + xii pls 363–370 Appendixes A & B (Appendix B)] (reproductive behaviour, physiology)

Brockway, B.F. 1968. Influences of sex hormones on the loud and soft warbles of male Budgerigars. Animal Behaviour 16: 5-12 (behavioural physiology)

Cade, T.J. & Dybas, J.A. 1962. Water economy of the Budgerygah. Auk 79: 345-364 (physiology)

Evans, H.E. 1969. Anatomy of the Budgerigar. pp. 45-112 in Petrak, M.L. (ed.). Diseases of Cage and Aviary Birds. Philadelphia : Lea & Febiger 528 pp. [Duncan, F.M. 1937. On the dates of publication of the Society's 'Proceedings', 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of 'Proceedings', 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the 'Transactions', 1833–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107: 71–84] (anatomy)

Feder, F.–H. 1969. Beitrag zur makroskopischen und mikroskopischen Anatomie des Verdauungsapparates beim Wellensittich. Anatomischer Anzeiger 125: 233-255 (anatomy)

Ficken, R.W., van Tienhoven, A., Ficken, M.S. & Sibley, F.C. 1960. Effect of visual and vocal stimuli on breeding in the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). Animal Behaviour 8: 104-106 (breeding physiology)

Hinde, R.A. & Putnam, R.J. 1973. Why Budgerigars breed in continuous darkness. Journal of Zoology, London 170: 485-491 (breeding physiology)

Hutchinson, R.E. 1974. Temporal patterning of external stimuli and reproductive behaviour in female Budgerigars. Animal Behaviour 22: 150-157 (reproductive physiology)

Hutchinson, R.E. 1977. Temporal relationships between nesting behaviour, ovary and oviduct development during the reproductive cycle of female Budgerigars. Behaviour 60: 278-303 (reproduction)

Lea, A.M. & Gray, J.T. 1935. The food of Australian birds. An analysis of the stomach contents. Part II. The Emu 35: 63-98 (diet)

Long, J.L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World. The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Illustrated by Susan Tingay. Sydney : A.H. & A.W. Reed 528 pp. (introductions)

Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pts 1-6 xix 516 pp. pls 275-324. [Date published June 1917: publication dated as 1916–1917] (synonymy)

Mayr, E. 1951. Notes on some pigeons and parrots from Western Australia. The Emu 51: 137-145 (synonymy)

Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. (synonymy)

Pohl-Apel, G. von, Sossinka, R. & Wyndham, E. 1982. Gonadal cycles of wild Budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus (Psittaciformes: Platycercidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 30: 791-797 (reproductive physiology and ecology)

Pohl-Apel, G. von & Sossinka, R. 1975. Gonadenentwicklung beim Wellensittich Melopsittacus undulatus unter verschiedenen lichtbedingungen. Journal of Ornithology 116: 207-212 (reproductive physiology)

Putnam, R.J. & Hinde, R.A. 1973. Effects of light regime and breeding experience on Budgerigar reproduction. Journal of Zoology, London 170: 475-484 (reproduction)

Salvadori, T. 1891. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Catalogue of the Psittaci, or Parrots. London : British Museum Vol. 20 xvii 658 pp. XVIII pls. (synonymy and specific limits)

Schrader, N. 1975. The breeding of Budgerygahs in western New South Wales. Australian Bird Watcher 6: 118-122 (reproductive ecology)

Shellswell, G.B., Gosney, S. & Hinde, R.A. 1975. Photoperiodic control of Budgerigar reproduction: circadian changes in sensitivity. Journal of Zoology, London 175: 53-60 (reproductive physiology)

Steiner, H. 1950. Die mutation "Opal" beim Wellensittich, Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw), ein mutmasslicher fall iterativer oder paralleler entwicklung innerhalb des formenkreises der Plattschweifsittiche (Platycercidae). Archiv der Julius Klaus-Stiftung für Vererbungsforschung, Sozialanthropologie, und Rassenhygiene, Zurich 25: 488-496 (mutation, phylogeny)

van Tienhoven, A., Sutherland, C. & Saatman, R.R. 1966. The effects of exposure to darkness in the reproductive and hypothalamo-hypophysial systems of Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). General and Comparative Endocrinology 6: 420-427 (physiology)

Weathers, W.W. & Schoenbaechler, D.C. 1976. Regulation of body temperature in the Budgerygah, Melopsittacus undulatus. Australian Journal of Zoology 24: 39-47 (physiology)

Wyndham, E. 1980. Diurnal changes in crop contents and total body lipid of Budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus. Ibis 122: 229-234 [Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.] (physiology)

Wyndham, E. 1980. Diurnal cycle, behaviour, and social organisation of the Budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus. Ibis 80: 25-33 (ethology)

Wyndham, E. 1980. Environment and food of the Budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus. Australian Journal of Ecology 5: 47-62 (ecology, diet)

Wyndham, E. 1980. Total body lipids of the Budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus (Psittaciformes: Platycercidae) in inland mid-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 28: 239-247 (physiology)

Wyndham, E. 1981. Breeding and mortality of Budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus. The Emu 81: 240-243 (reproductive turnover)

Wyndham, E. 1981. Moult of Budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus. Ibis 123: 145-157 (physiology)

Wyndham, E. 1982. Movements and breeding seasons of the Budgerigar. The Emu 82: 276-282 (reproductive ecology)

Wyndham, E., Hutchinson, R.E. & Brockway-Fuller, B.F. 1981. Gonadal condition of non-breeding wild and domesticated Budgerigars, Melopsittacus undulatus. Ibis 123: 511-518 (physiology)