Australian Biological Resources Study

Australian Faunal Directory

Species Northiella haematogaster (Gould, 1838)

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CAVS: 0297

Species Northiella haematogaster (Gould, 1838)

Blue Bonnet, Bluebonnet

  • Platycercus haematogaster Gould, J. 1838. In Proceedings of meeting of Zoological Society of London, Sept. 26, 1837. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1837: 88-89 [published 13 Feb 1838, publication dated as 1837] [89] [published concurrently in Gould, J. 1838. The Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. London : J. Gould Pt 2 10 pls pp. [published Feb. 1838], appearing on unspecified day and therefore junior under ICZN Art. 21 (c); male and female of the three syntypes figured there on pl. 7 and source of type material recorded—although original description may be interpreted as hybrid between the forms known today as haematogaster Gould, 1838 and haematorrhous Bonaparte, 1856, the figures are of the former; name missapplied to N. h. haematorrhous (Bonaparte, 1856) by Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould 5 92 pls pp. [published Sept. 1841] (pl. 33 and text), see 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.] (63–64); Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] (413–416); for identification of syntypes, collected by Major Thomas Mitchell's expedition to the Darling River in 1835, and their locality, see 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]; Warren, R.L.M. 1966. Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1 Non-Passerines. London : British Museum ix 320 pp.; for summary and clarification of confused nomenclatural history, see Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)]].
    Type data:
     Syntype(s) BMNH 1839.8.2.119 ♂ adult (also ex Linnean Society of London coll., apparently destroyed, see Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] (415) and ex J. Gould coll. ♀ not traced), near Darling River, NSW (31º18´S 144º15´E) (as Nova Cambria Australi).
    Type locality references:
    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].
  • Psephotus xanthorrhoa Bonaparte, C.L. 1850. Nouvelles espèces ornithologiques. Première partie: Perroquets. Lugduni. Comptes Rendus (Hebdomadaires) des Séances de l'Academie des Sciences. Série D. Sciences Naturelles 30: 131-139 [published Feb.] [133] [also as incorrect subsequent spelling, xanthorrhous, e.g., by 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.] (63) and 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 (563, as misapplied mandatory change under ICZN Art. 34(b), because name a substantive in apposition); attributed to Gould ms, and introduced on mistaken assumption that Platycercus haematogaster Gould, 1838 applied to the red-shouldered and -vented form of this species; thus all the material of the blue-shouldered, yellow-vented form then available to Gould, including the types of P. haematogaster Gould, 1838, and any others seen by Bonaparte, are part of the type series of Psephotus xanthorrhoa Bonaparte, 1850; lectotype chosen here from type series of Platycercus haematogaster Gould, 1838 to fix the type locality; for clarification of application of name, see 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.] (63–64); Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] (413–416); misinterpreted as objective synonym of Psephotus haematorrhous Gould (=Bonaparte, 1856) by Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp.].
    Type data:
     Lectotype BMNH 1839.8.2.119 ♂ adult, near Darling River, NSW (31º18´S 144º15´E).
    Paralectotype(s) (ex Gould coll., untraced ?MNHP, ?RMNH).
    Type locality references:
    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].
  • Psephotus haematogaster alter Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [275] [holotype figured on pl. 312, bottom, and described in detail on p. 411 in Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)]].
    Type data:
     Holotype AMNH 623272 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 1139), Multoa (=Murtoa), VIC (as Victoria)
    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.
  • Psephotus haematorrhous Bonaparte, C.L. 1856. Beilage Nr .1. Tabellarische Uebersicht der Papageien. Naumannia 1856: Beilage 1a [col. 13, n. 198] [based on for Psephotus haematogaster (Gould, 1838) in Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould 5 92 pls pp. [published Sept. 1841] (pl. 33 and text); original and conventional spelling kept, cf. ICZN Art. 31(b); authority for name commonly attributed to Gould in 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.] (62), see Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia Pt 1 Non-passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp.; nevertheless, although Bonaparte's prior publication of the name was treated as a nomen nudum by Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] (414), it had referred to it Psephotus haematogaster (Gould, 1838) as applied to the red-vented and -shouldered form in Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 4 pp. 297–372 pls 300–307 [27 June 1917, volume dated as 1916–1917], cf. Mathews, G.M. 1943. A correction in our nomenclature. Emu 42: 166—thus Psephotus haematorrhous Bonaparte, 1856 is available for this form under ICZN Art. 12(b)(1, 3); application of name further clarified by 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.] (63–64), under Psephotus xanthorrhous 'Gould': from this account it is evident that the specimens figured on pl. 33 and described in its accompanying text in Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould 5 92 pls pp. [published Sept. 1841] are syntypes of haematorrhous Bonaparte, 1856; type (=lectotype) referred to nominotypical N. h. haematogaster (Gould, 1838) 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 overlooked 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; for summary and clarification of confused nomenclatural history, see 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]; Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] (413–416)].
    Type data:
     Lectotype ANSP 22907 ♂ (Verreaux cat. no. 254), Lower Namoi (River), NSW.
    Paralectotype(s) BMNH unsexed (institution uncertain, ex J. Gould coll.); BMNH unsexed (institution uncertain, ex J. Gould coll.); ANSP (specimens ex J. Gould coll.)
    Comment: possible paralectotypes ex J. Gould coll. cited in BMNH 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 (562: specimens b and c), and there are others in ANSP, see 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.
  • Northiella haematogaster zanda Mathews, G.M. 1913. New species and subspecies of Australian birds. Austral Avian Records 2: 73-79 [published Dec.] [75] [holotype inferred but not specified in original description; type figured on pl. 312, top, and described in detail on pp. 411–412 in Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373–444 pls 308–316 [11 Sept. 1917, volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)], effecting lectotypification under ICZN Art. 74].
    Type data:
     Lectotype AMNH 623241 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified, or AMNH 623242 ♂, G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified), Moree, NSW.
    Paralectotype(s) AMNH 623243 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623244 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified); AMNH 623244 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified)
    Comment: for identification of original syntypes, 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.
    Subsequent designation references:
    Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 5 pp. 373-444 pls 308-316. [Date published 11 Sept. 1917: volume dated as 1916-1917 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 [publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] (Appendix B)] [412].
  • Psephotus xanthorrhoa pallescens 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. [563] [as Psephotus xanthorrhous var. pallescens; for identification of syntypes, see Warren, R.L.M. 1966. Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1 Non-Passerines. London : British Museum ix 320 pp. who cites only one of the three syntypes quoted in the original description].
    Type data:
     
    Syntype(s) BMNH 1881.5.1.5599 unsexed adult (ex J. Gould coll.), Cooper's Creek, interior SA; BMNH unsexed (no. unspecified, ex J. Gould coll. and ?lost), Cooper's Creek, interior SA.

 

Miscellaneous Literature Names

 

Introduction

Upon finding no evidence of gene flow between Northiella haematogaster narethae and other populations of Northiella haematogaster, Dolman & Joseph (2015) recommended recognition of two species, Northiella narethae and Northiella haematogaster. They state that "… there is no suggestion of phylogeographic structure for mtDNA among [Northiella haematogaster] populations" and thus subspecies are no longer recognised in this database.

 

Distribution

States

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


IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

IBRA

NSW, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Channel Country (CHC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gawler (GAW), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Victorian Midlands (VM)

Ecological Descriptors

Acacia shrubs, arboreal, folivore, granivore, gregarious, low open woodland, low woodland, sedentary, semiterrestrial, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, (sexually dimorphic), in open belah (Casuarina), myall (Acacia) and pine (Callitris) woodlands, with or without mallee, feeds mainly on seeds on ground and low shrubs, flies almost directly with rapid wing beats punctuated by gliding 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, sedentary or wanders locally to seasonal food sources.

 

General References

Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432-479 (subspecific arrangement)

Condon, H.T. 1941. The Australian broadtailed parrots (subfamily Platycercinae). Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 7: 117-144 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

Dolman, G. & Joseph, L. 2015. Evolutionary history of birds across southern Australia: structure, history and taxonomic implications of mitochondrial DNA diversity in an ecologically diverse suite of species. Emu 115: 35–48

Ford, J. 1974. Speciation in Australian birds adapted to arid habitats. The Emu 74: 161-168 (subspecific arrangement)

Forshaw, J.M. 1981. Australian Parrots. 2nd (revised) Edn. Illustrated by W.T. Cooper. Melbourne : Lansdowne Edns 312 pp. 56 pls. (subspecific arrangement)

Frith, C.B. & Carline, F. 1974. Psittacidae. In, Hall, B.P. (ed.). Birds of the Harold Hall Australian Expeditions 1962–70. A report on the collections made for the British Museum (Natural History). Results of the Harold Hall Australian Expeditions. London : British Museum Vol. 33 xi 396 pp., 10 pls col. pl. map. (diet, aspects of biology)

Immelmann, K. 1966. Die australischen Plattschweifsittiche. Wittenberg, Lutherstadt : A. Ziemsen (Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei) 128 pp. (subspecific arrangement)

Joseph, L. 1985. Sexual dimorphism in the Blue Bonnet. Corella 9: 30-31

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 also subsequent revisions)

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] (nomenclature, typification)

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

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. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
29-Apr-2015 Platycercini 27-Apr-2015 MODIFIED
10-Nov-2020 01-Mar-2012 MODIFIED
10-Nov-2020 28-Feb-2012 MODIFIED
22-Mar-2011 MODIFIED