Species Neophema (Neophema) splendida (Gould, 1841)

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CAVS: 0303

Species Neophema (Neophema) splendida (Gould, 1841)

Scarlet-chested Parrot

Euphema splendida Gould, J. 1841. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould Vol. 5 Pt 2 92 pls. [published Mar. 1841 1848 in Vol. 5] [text to pl. 42] [first read at meeting of Zoological Society of London, Nov. 10, 1840, but not published until July 1841 in Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1840: 147, 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; male holotype figured as the only available bird on pl. 42 of protologue, but text expanded and republished with a new plate, 42a, of three birds in Pt 29 of Gould, J. (1848) The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould, appearing in 1847, see 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 it is not clear whether the specimen cited 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, and holotype 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, is the individual figured on the original pl. 42; in so far as Gould, in his expanded annotations to plate 42a in 1847, mentioned receiving 'several fine specimens' from J. Drummond in Western Australia in 1845, there is no firm evidence that either of the two Western Australian males from Gould in ANSP is the holotype].
Type data:
Holotype ANSP 22951 ♂ adult (institution uncertain, Verreaux cat. no. 326), Swan River, WA (probably inland).
Paratype(s) ANSP 22950 (institution uncertain, Verreaux cat. no. unspecified).
Type locality references:
Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould Vol. 5 92 pls. [published Sept. 1841] [augmented text to pl. 42a].
Neophema splendida halli Mathews, G.M. 1916. List of additions of new sub-species to, and changes in, my "List of the Birds of Australia". Austral Avian Records 3(3): 53-68 [Date published 4 Apr 1916] [57] [based on an immature male, see Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432–479].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 623544 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 18450), South Australia
Comment: for identification 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.
Type locality references:
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.
Secondary source:
Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432-479.

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. [204]

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Southern deserts and semi–deserts of inland Australia, west to Balladonia, Coolgardie and upper Murchison River catchment, WA, irregularly reaching WA wheatbelt—north to Gibson Desert, WA, Petermann-Macdonnell Ranges, NT, and Simpson Desert, far W QLD—east to Grey and Barrier Ranges and middle Darling River, NSW—south to the north Murray Mallee (Ouyen-Mannum), VIC, SA, and to N Yorke Peninsula, central Eyre Peninsula and fringes of the Nullarbor Plain westwards—erratic in occurrence and generally avoiding the Flinders Range.

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

NT, SA, Vic, WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victorian Midlands (VM), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

Australia
- Northern Territory: W plateau
- South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, W plateau
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin
- Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

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

Extra Ecological Information

Opportunistic breeder, sexually dimorphic, mallee and mulga scrubs, feeds primarily on seeds on ground, flies directly with rapid wing beats punctuated by short glides on in-drawn wings, nests on bed of wood dust/debris in tree hollows, incubation by female, both sexes rear pale grey-downed, yellowish-billed chicks, wanders widely to seasonal food sources, irrupting and fluctuating markedly in numbers with seasons (generally rare).