Species Neopsephotus bourkii (Gould, 1841)

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CAVS: 0304

Species Neopsephotus bourkii (Gould, 1841)

Bourke's Parrot

Euphema bourkii Gould, J. 1841. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould Pt 5 in 5 92 pls. [published Dec. 1841 1848 in Vol. 5] [text to pl. 43] [as Bourkii; also as incorrect subsequent spelling, bourki, e.g., by Finsch, O. 1868. Die Papageien, monographisch bearbeitet. Leiden : E.J. Brill Vol. 2 vii 996 pp. 5 pls (227); based on Nanodes bourkii, nomen nudum in Mitchell, T.L. 1838. Three Expeditions into the Interior of eastern Australia, with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present Colony of New South Wales. London : T. & W. Boone Vol. 1 xxi 351 pp. [published after Aug. 18, 1838 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.] (xviii); Mitchell's two specimens (syntypes) quoted and figured by Gould in the original description were said to be deposited in AM, but although listed as 'Nanodes, the Bogan River Parrakeet' in Bennett, G. 1837. Catalogue of Specimens of Natural History and miscellaneous curiosities deposited in the Australian Museum. Sydney : Australian Museum, there is no record of them there since 1837, 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; Longmore, N.W. 1991. Type specimens of birds in the Australian Museum. Technichal Report of the Australian Museum n 4: 1–42; cf. Mathews, G.M. 1914. Note on Platycercus (haematogaster), Gould. South Australian Ornithologist 1(2): 15–17 [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]; J.R. Kinghorn (in litt. to 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) suggests that Gould kept the specimens, in addition to others acquired later from Charles Sturt, cf. Gould, J. 1865. Handbook to the Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould 2 629 pp. [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.] and records of Gould's skins in BMNH and ANSP quoted by 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 and Meyer de Schauensee (loc. cit.); if so, the specimen identified as type in ANSP 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 is one of the syntypes (=lectotype) by reason of the fact that Gould's subjects for his folio 'The Birds of Australia' formed the collection acquired by ANSP, see Meyer de Schauensee (loc. cit.); as both syntypes were figured on plate 43 of the original description, the other syntype should be in ANSP as well—but it is not cited by Meyer de Schauensee (loc. cit.); it could even be the female ex J. Gould in MNHP marked 'type'].
Type data:
Lectotype ANSP 22924 ♂ adult (institution uncertain, Verreaux cat. no. 329), lower Bogan River, NSW (as banks of the River Bogan).
Paralectotype(s) MNHP 664 ♀ adult (institution uncertain).
Subsequent designation references:
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 [Date published 28 Feb 1913].
Type locality references:
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, Philadelphia 109: 123-246.
Nanodes bourkii Mitchell, T.L. 1838. Three Expeditions into the Interior of eastern Australia; with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales. London : T. & W. Boone Vol. 1 [xxiv] 351 pp. 21pls. [xviii] [nom. nud., with '(New Species)' the sole ascription].
Type data:
Syntype(s).
Neophema bourkei 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. [570] [unjustified emendation of Euphema bourkii Gould, 1841].
Neopsephotus bourkii pallidus 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] [as pallida, corrected under ICZN Art. 32(d)(ii); holotype inferred but not specified in original description; for identification of type series and type locality, 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; the type (=holotype) presumed by Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432–479 effects lectotypification under ICZN Art. 74].
Type data:
Lectotype AMNH 623548 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified), Flat Rock Hole, east of Musgrave Ranges, SA (as Central Australia).
Paralectotype(s) AMNH 623547 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623549 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623549 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified).
Subsequent designation references:
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. [201]

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

Southern inland desert regions, in two isolated populations separated by Flinders Ranges—sandy Simpson-Strzelecki Deserts: one western from region of Shark Bay and S Pilbara north to Minilya and mid-upper Fortescue Rivers, WA, south to mulga-eucalypt line between Morawa, Wubin, Lake Moore and Menzies, WA, and east through Great Victoria and lower Gibson Desert to the central Australian Ranges, NT, north to the Granites (Tanami Desert) and Davenport Range (Wauchope) as far as the western edge of the Sandover-Simpson Deserts, and south through NW SA between the Nullarbor Plain and western fringes of the Lake Eyre-Torrens depression occasionally as far as Lyndhurst, the head of Spencer Gulf and Gawler Ranges—the other population eastern in the channel country of SW QLD and NW NSW, west to central Cooper Creek and Grey and Barrier Ranges to at least Mutooroo, SA, north to Windorah and Adavale, QLD, east to Cunnamulla, Bourke and Ivanhoe, occasionally reaching central Barwon, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee River systems, NSW, and erratically south to the northern fringes of the Murray Mallee (Pooncarie, NSW-Woolpunda, SA).

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, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), 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), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

Australia
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
- Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin, W plateau
- Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
- South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, W plateau
- Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, folivore, granivore, gregarious, low open woodland, low woodland, nomadic, open scrub, tall open shrubland, terrestrial, volant.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, opportunistic breeder?, primarily in mulga (Acacia aneura) woodlands and fringing grass plains, feeds on seeds mainly on ground but also in trees, flocks in small loose groups, 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 locally or rather widely to seasonal food sources.