Subspecies Neophema (Neonanodes) elegans elegans (Gould, 1838)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Nanodes elegans Gould, J. 1838. A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. London : J. Gould 8 pp., 73 pls. [Pt 3, published Apr. 1838, publication dated as 1837–1838] [text to pl. 25] [first read at meeting of Zoological Society of London, Feb. 28, 1837, but not published in Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1837: 26 until Nov. 1837, see Sclater, P.L. 1893. List of the dates of delivery of the sheets of the "Proceedings" of the Zoological Society of London, from the commencement in 1830 to 1859 inclusive. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1893: 435–440; 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.]; Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp.; based on male and female or immature specimens; original material not traced—ANSP 22932 from 'West' Australia (Verreaux cat. no. 312) identified as type by Stone, W. in Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the location of the type-specimens. Austral Avian Records 1: 129–180, but not corroborated by Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246: an adult male, it is one of the birds figured and described on pl. 38 in Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould Vol. 5 92 pls pp. [Pt 8, 1842], which almost certainly figured birds collected later than 1837 by Gould and John Gilbert on their respective visits to South Australia and Western Australia in 1839, cf. Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246; thus ANSP 22932 cannot be accepted as type of Nanodes elegans Gould, 1837; type locality incorrect as specified in protologue, as the species does not occur in Tasmania nor is it confirmed from New South Wales. Victoria, then South Australia designated by Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171–455 [publication dated Jan. 1912, published 31 Jan.] and Mathews, G.M. 1913. A List of the Birds of Australia containing the names and synonyms connected with each genus, species, and subspecies of birds found in Australia, at present known to the author. London : Witherby xxvii 453 pp., but without evidence—given that Nanodes elegans Gould, 1837 was described from material in Gould's own collection by Feb. 1837, almost before he could have received specimens from South Australia (founded late Dec. 1836), the most likely type locality is southwest Australia, particularly the environs of the Swan River colony, from which H.W. Breton and J.P. Beete had already sent bird skins to the Zoological Society of London for an exhibition involving Gould in Sept. 1836, see Whittell, H.M. 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and Bibliography of Australian Ornithology. Perth : Paterson Brokensha xi 116 788 pp.—even so, doubt remains; because the canvassed localities involve the ranges of two forms, a neotype is designated here with the approval of the RAOU Taxonomic Advisory Committee to tie the name to the form with which it is conventionally associated: ANSP 22932 was considered but disqualified by its annotated locality, the assertion of Stone, W. in Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the location of the type-specimens. Austral Avian Records 1: 129–180 concerning its provenance notwithstanding].

  Type data:

   Neotype ANWC 15785 ♂ adult, 2 miles north of Tantunda Bay, Coorong, SA (as New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land?).

  Subsequent designation 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. [160].

  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. [160].

Distribution

States

South Australia, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

Centred around SA Gulfs, west to Streaky Bay and north to Gawler Ranges on Eyre Peninsula, all Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Is., and Mt Lofty-Flinders Ranges and adjacent plains north to Beltana, and south-east through Murray Mallee and Ninety-mile Desert, SA, occasionally to Wimmera and western Victorian plains, exceptionally east to Port Phillip Bay, VIC—records from NSW so far unconfirmed.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • South Australia: Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal
  • Victoria

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, folivore, granivore, gregarious, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low shrubland, low woodland, nomadic, open heath, open scrub, terrestrial, tussock grassland, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, in samphire, open grass fields, open well-grassed woodland and sclerophyllous thicket, feeds on ground mainly on seeds, flocks in small groups, flies directly with rapid wing beats punctuated by short glides on in-drawn wings, nests on bed of wood dust in often horizontal tree hollows, incubation by female, both sexes rear pale grey-downed, yellowish-billed chicks, wanders locally or regionally to seasonal food sources.

General References

Baxter, C. & Parker, S.A. 1981. The status of the Elegant Parrot and the Rock Parrot on Kangaroo Island. South Australian Ornithologist 28: 164-165 (movements, occurrence, status)

Boehm, E.F. 1959. Parrots and cockatoos of the Mount Mary Plains, South Australia. The Emu 59: 83-87 (diet)

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)

History of changes