Family PSITTACIDAE
Compiler and date details
R. Schodde & I.J. Mason, CSIRO Australian National Wildlife Collection, Canberra, Australia
Introduction
Psittacidae (parrots and lories) comprise about 310-335 species in 70-87 genera; 41 species in 21 genera occur in Australia and its territories; one endemic species (Psephotus pulcherrimus Gould, 1845) is now extinct. The Australian fossil record comprises a wide range of unidentified and extant genera and species in north-east NSW, south-east QLD, Norfolk Is., and from southern VIC to southwest WA, including Kangaroo Island. Although with centres in the Old World and New World tropics, where most species occur, parrots are most diverse in Australasia where at least nine of the ten subfamilies or tribes recognised by Smith (1975) are found; six of these groups are present on mainland Australia (cf. Smith loc. cit., Homberger 1980).
Commonly gregarious, parrots and lories feed on the ground or in trees on seeds, fruit, nectar and pollen gathered by their bills; seeds are husked by the cutting action of the lower mandible on nuts held by the tongue on a dental pad on the maxilla, and nectar and pollen are won by tongue-brushing. Parrots and lories may or may not clump-roost; they drink by lapping, ladling or suck-pumping; they bathe variably; and their voices are characteristically weazy chatters and screeches, moderated as well by variable whistles and warbles in Platycercinae. Nests, defended in undefended territories, are usually of unconstructed beds in hollows or holes, or exceptionally are constructed in tree branches or on the ground; eggs are spheroidal, plain-white and slightly glossy, and usually incubated only by female. Young are altricial, nidicolous, blind at hatching, and covered with sparse to long dark grey or whitish down; they are fed by pump-regurgitation, the parent holding the chick's bill in its own.
Family-group Systematics
Although Australian members have been split variously into several families by Salvadori (1891), Mathews (1913, 1927), RAOU Checklist Committee (1926), Verheyen (1956), Brereton (1963), Wolters (1975-1982), Condon (1975) and Forshaw (1978), they are combined here in one, following Finsch (1867), Fürbringer (1888), Stresemann (1927-1934), Peters (1937), Mayr & Amadon (1951), Boetticher (1959), Wetmore (1960), Smith (1975), Homberger (1980) and Christidis et al. (1991). Of the six infra-familial groups in Australia and its territories, the composition and relationships of a number are still not clear, particularly for Cyclopsittini (fig parrots), Psittaculini (as represented by Eclectus Wagler, 1832 and Geoffroyus Bonaparte, 1850), and Polytelini (long-tailed parrots), see Salvadori (loc. cit.), Beddard (1898), Smith (loc. cit.), Homberger (loc. cit.; 1991) and Christidis et al. (loc. cit.). These, therefore, are conservatively given no more than tribal status here; other more clearly defined and better established groups are treated as subfamilies. The groups are as follows, after Smith (loc. cit.) as modified by Homberger (1980) and Christidis et al. (loc. cit.).
Nestorinae Bonaparte, 1849 (kakas)-large, stout, short-tailed parrots with spine-tipped rectrices, bronzed plumage, multi-striped wings, unfused cartilaginous first bronchial rings and cockatoo-like gait and flight. There is one genus, of three species, centred in New Zealand and of obscure affinity: Nestor Lesson, 1830. For additional details of circumscription, see Salvadori (1891) and Holyoak (1973).
Loriinae Selby, 1836 (lorikeets and lories)-small, brightly coloured, wholly arboreal flower-feeding parrots with usually camouflaging green dorsa, pointed wings and tails, dashing flight, brush-tipped tongues with eversible papillae, and short intestinal tract with simple crop and gizzard. Eleven to 13 genera are recognised (Peters 1937; Wolters 1975-1982; Forshaw 1978; Sibley & Monroe 1990), with much the greatest diversity in New Guinea where 8-10 genera occur, including three endemic; three genera are recognised in Australia. For additional details of circumscription, see Salvadori (1891) and Holyoak (1973).
Platycercinae Selby, 1836 (broad-tailed parrots)-small to medium-sized ground- and tree-feeding flap-gliding parrots with usually long, pale blue-, white- or yellow-tipped tails, and commonly red or yellow under-tail coverts; sexual dimorphism is slight, there is a single narrow under-wing stripe in females and buff-billed juveniles, the furcula is commonly vestigial and cartilaginous, and extrinsic syringeal muscles appear to be absent. Comprising about 14 genera with 35-38 species, Platycercinae are centred in Australia and its territories where 11 genera (10 endemic) and 25 species (24 endemic) occur, cf. Peters (1937), Wolters (1975-1982), Forshaw (1978) and Sibley & Monroe (1990). Fijian Prosopeia Bonaparte, 1854, Australian Lathamus Lesson, 1830, and montane New Guinean Psittacella Schlegel, 1871 are referred to the group, following Homberger (1980) and Christidis et al. (1991). The only other genera found outside Australia are Eunymphicus Peters, 1837 and Cyanoramphus Bonaparte, 1854, both limited to islands in the southwest Pacific. According to Christidis et al. (loc. cit.), Australian Platycercinae comprise a core of six closely related genera (Platycercus Vigors, 1825, Barnardius Bonaparte, 1854, Purpureicephalus Bonaparte, 1854, Lathamus Lesson, 1830, Northiella Mathews, 1912 and Psephotus Gould, 1845), which are rather distant from other more diversely related genera in the group: Cyanoramphus Bonaparte, 1854, Melopsittacus Gould, 1840, Neophema Salvadori, 1891, Neopsephotus Mathews, 1912 and Pezoporus Illiger, 1811 (cf. also Condon 1941; Homberger 1991).
Psittaculini Vigors, 1825 (Palaeotropic parrots)-medium-sized, prevailingly green, arboreal parrots with heavy bills, short or racket-shaped or attenuate tails, variable sexual dimorphism, and no under-wing stripe; both tongue and dental pad are ridged or grooved. Composition is uncertain; the most circumspect definition (Wolters 1975-1982) admits 11 genera centred from India to Papuasia when Psittrichas Lesson, 1831 is excluded (Homberger 1980); there are two genera in Australia. The circumscription of this group and its relationships to other groups of parrots is far from settled, see Christidis et al. (1991) and Homberger (1991).
Cyclopsittacini Salvadori, 1891 (fig parrots)-small, green, wholly arboreal, fruit-eating parrots with stout ridged bills, wedge-shaped tails, marked sexual dimorphism, permanent double under-wing stripes, and completely ossified orbital ring free from well-developed zygomatic processes. There are five species in one to three genera centred in New Guinea, see Peters (1937), Forshaw (1978), and Sibley & Monroe (1990); one genus occurs in Australia. Relationships with Philippine Bolbopsittacus Salvadori, 1891 and other psittaculine parrots are in need of resolution. For further details of circumscription, see Salvadori (1891), Holyoak (1970, 1973) and Wolters (1975-1982).
Polytelini Mathews, 1916 (long-tailed parrots)-slender, medium-sized, swift-flying, seed-eating parrots with prevailingly green plumage and attenuate, pink-tipped tails, marked sexual dimorphism, no under-wing stripe, psittaculine tongue and soft palate, and extrinsic syringeal muscles evidently attached to lung membrane. Their three genera with eight species are centred in Australia where all three genera occur, see Peters (1937), Wolters (1975-1982), Forshaw (1978) and Sibley & Monroe (1990). The Fijian Prosopeia Bonaparte, 1854 is excluded here, following Homberger (1980). The relationships of the Polytelini are in need of clarification: most revisers (e.g. Salvadori 1891; Smith 1975; Homberger 1980) align the group with the Psittaculini but Verheyen (1956) and Christidis et al. (1991) record links with Platycercinae (broad-tailed parrots), cf. Homberger (1991).
The genera are arranged in their infra-familial groups, as defined here, after the familial sequence in Condon (1975), but commencing with Nestorinae Bonaparte, 1849 (not treated by Condon loc. cit.) following Peters (1937) and concluding with tribes incertae sedis.
Genus-group Systematics
Psitteuteles Bonaparte, 1854-Protein screening by Christidis et al. (1991) indicated that generic groupings in the Loriinae are as difficult to distinguish at molecular level as from external morphology, see the varying arrangements in Peters (1937), Wolters (1975-1982) and Sibley & Monroe (1990). Pending a review of character homology and geography for the entire group, it is premature to alter the conventional limits among Australian lorikeets established by Condon (1975). So Psitteuteles Bonaparte, 1854 is retained for the Varied Lorikeet.
Trichoglossus Stephens, 1826-The Scaly-breasted Lorikeet (Psittacus chlorolepidotus Kuhl, 1820) is kept in this genus, for reasons see Psitteuteles Bonaparte, 1854, q.v..
Barnardius Bonaparte, 1854-Barnardius Bonaparte, 1854 is kept generically separate from Platycercus Vigors, 1825 because no documented case for its inclusion has been published since Condon's (1941) revision (cf. Peters 1937). Condon (loc. cit.), followed by Cain (1955) and Holyoak (1973), distinguished Barnardius because of the condition of its auditory meatus and colour pattern; see also Baird (1992). Although Ovenden et al. (1987) also found Barnardius divergent, Christidis et al. (1991) demonstrated faults in their analysis and recorded much closer links with Northiella (Mathews 1912) and Platycercus. These relationships, nevertheless, need better resolution before the status of Barnardius is altered.
Cyanoramphus Bonaparte, 1854-Although Holyoak (1973) combined the crested New Caledonian Eunymphicus Peters, 1937 with Cyanoramphus Bonaparte, 1854, his case based on the structure of the auditory region needs corroboration and extension before the conventional generic arrangements of Peters (1937), Wolters (1975-1982) and Sibley & Monroe (1990) are modified. The splitting-off of Phippsittacus subgenerically by McAllan & Bruce (1989), based on 'larger, darker green form with a different bill morphology', is too vague a justification.
Neophema Salvadori, 1891-Neophema Salvadori, 1891, is limited here to the small, green, yellow-rectriced Australian grass parrots with zig-zag flight, after Boetticher (1959), Immelmann (1966), Homberger (1980) and Sibley & Monroe (1990). For separation of Bourke's Parrot under Neopsephotus Mathews, 1912, see that genus. The species of Neophema fall into two groups recognised subgenerically here after Cain (1955), Immelmann (loc. cit.) and Lendon (1973): subgenus Neophema with rich blue over the head, azure wings, and sexual dimorphism with red in the plumage of males; and subgenus Neonanodes Mathews, 1912 with yellow-green faces, cyanic superciliaries, dark blue remiges and sometimes shoulders, and almost no sexual dimorphism.
Neopsephotus Mathews, 1912-Despite the arguments made by Cain (1955), Ford (1969) and Forshaw (1981) to include Bourke's Parrot (Euphema bourkii Gould, 1841) in Neophema Salvadori, 1891, compelling morphological and behavioural reasons for separating it in a monotypic genus, Neopsephotus Mathews, 1912, have been put forward by Boetticher (1959) and Homberger (1980: 165-166). Data in Christidis et al. (1991) indicate that it is widely divergent in proteins as well. Accordingly, Neopsephotus is recognised generically here, after the recommendation of Lendon (1973: 253).
Northiella Mathews, 1912-Argument over the status of the Bluebonnet (Platycercus haematogaster Gould, 1838) is polarized on one side by Peters (1937), Condon (1941, 1975) and Sibley & Monroe (1990) who refer it to monotypic Northiella Mathews, 1912, and on the other by Cain (1955), Immelmann (1966), Lendon (1973), Wolters (1975-1982) and Forshaw (1981) who include it in Psephotus Gould, 1845. Although Ovenden et al. (1987) recorded it clustering with Psephotus, Christidis et al. (1991) found it linked more closely to the Platycercus Vigors, 1825-Barnardius Bonaparte, 1854 lineage in proteins. Condon's (1941) morphological analysis also concluded that its closest affinities are with Barnardius, contra Cain (loc. cit.). Until these phyletic discrepancies are resolved, Northiella Mathews, 1912 should be retained.
Pezoporus Illiger, 1811-Apart from Forshaw (1978, 1981), the only reviews to have analysed the generic positions of the Ground Parrot (Psittacus wallicus Kerr, 1792) and Night Parrot (Geopsittacus occidentalis Gould, 1861) since Condon (1975) are those of Ford (1969), Schodde & Mason (1981: 35-36) and Leeton et al. (1994). All concluded, on morphological, ecological, biogeographical and molecular grounds, that the two species are congeneric. This assessment is accepted here.
Platycercus Vigors, 1825-For generic status with respect to Barnardius Bonaparte, 1854, see that genus below. Two long-known infra-generic groups of species (Immelmann 1966) are recognised formally here as subgenera: the large, blue-cheeked, broad-winged group and the smaller, white- or yellow-cheeked and more narrowly winged group. Their members are allopatric within and sympatric between groups. Western P. icterotis (Kuhl, 1820) has sometimes been separated from the white-cheeked group as a third infra-generic element, based on its more marked sexual dimorphism and anecdotal assessments of its flight, vocalizations and supposed links with Psephotus Gould, 1845 (Lendon 1973; Forshaw 1981). The case needs better phylogenetic documentation before it can be accepted.
Psephotus Gould, 1845-The two subgenera diagnosed behaviourally by Lendon (1973: 212-213)-Eyrean, green-backed and pallid-crissumed subgenus Psephotus Gould, 1845 and Torresian, brown-backed, red-crissumed Psephotellus Mathews, 1913-are accepted here (also Wolters 1975-1982). That the Red-rumped Parrot (P. haematonotus (Gould, 1838)) stands apart from its consubgener P. varius Clarke, 1910 and other members of Psephotus (Immelmann 1966) needs further supporting documentation before infra-generic arrangements are modified.
Purpureicephalus Bonaparte, 1854-Protein data (Christidis et al. 1991) corroborate the morphological, behavioural and biogeographical evidence in Serventy (1938), Condon (1941) and Forshaw (1964) that Purpureicephalus Bonaparte, 1854 is an integral member of the Platycercus Vigors, 1825-Barnardius Bonaparte, 1854 lineage, pace Cain (1955). Its pecularities in structure of skull and bill and in behaviour (Lendon 1973: 145) may represent autapomorphic adaptations to its foraging niche (Robinson 1960; Forshaw 1981: 168); but they need phylogenetic documentation before any change to its monogeneric status is considered.
Cyclopsitta Reichenbach, 1850-Generic limits among the fig parrots (Cyclopsittacini) are far from settled: Holyoak (1970) combined them in one (Psittaculirostris J.E. & G.R. Gray, 1859) and Wolters (1975-1982) split them into three. For the present, I have followed the conservative arrangements of Peters (1937), Mayr (1941) and Sibley & Monroe (1990) which recognise two genera: Cyclopsitta and Psittaculirostris, the latter diagnosed, inter alia, by its feathered cere, spiked cheek feathering and bulk.
Alisterus Mathews, 1911-Although treated as a subgenus of Aprosmictus Gould, 1842 by the RAOU Checklist Committee (1926) and Lendon (1973), the Australo-Papuan species of king parrots (Alisterus Mathews, 1911) stand apart in their slenderer build, longer and more graduated tail, extensively red and usually sexually dimorphic ventrum, direct flight and closed forest niche. Current convention separates them generically, see Peters (1937), Condon (1975), Wolters (1975-1982) and Sibley & Monroe (1990).
Polytelis Wagler, 1832-Neither of the conflicting subgeneric arrangements by Mathews (1913, 1916, 1917, 1927) and Wolters (1975-1982) is accepted pending resolution of phylogenetic relationships in this close-knit genus.
Species-group Systematics
Nestor productus (Gould, 1836)-This species forms a superspecies with the New Zealand Kaka (Nestor meridionalis (Gmelin, 1788)), see Sibley & Monroe (1990), and is sometimes considered a subspecies of it. Salvadori's (1891) treatment of Norfolk and Philip Island populations as separate species is based in part on a malformed bill in the only description of material from Norfolk Island available to him; the distinction is no longer accepted (Peters 1937).
Glossopsitta concinna (Shaw, 1791)-Tasmanian populations largely lack the distinct bluish wash to the crown found in adults from mainland Australia and are recognised subspecifically after White (1938). Evidence for trans-Bass Strait migration is conflicting, cf. Blakers et al. (1984) and Green (1989).
Glossopsitta porphyrocephala (Deitrichsen, 1837)-Although geographic differentiation appears to be insignificant, it has yet to be demonstrated comprehensively.
Glossopsitta pusilla (Shaw, 1790)-Geographic variation also appears to be insignificant in this nomadic, nectar-seeking species, but it has yet to be demonstrated analytically.
Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus (Kuhl, 1820)-That northern populations are sub-specifically distinct from southern ones has been assumed at times from their supposedly smaller size, but the differences appear to be slight and clinal, cf. Hall (1974). Acceptance of subspecies is contingent on demonstration-so far lacking-that any gradient in size is stepped and secondary.
Trichoglossus rubritorquis Vigors & Horsfield, 1827-Whether to recognise the Red-collared Lorikeet of NW Australia as a valid species or to combine it with eastern Australian and southwest Pacific green-collared forms in one widespread polytypic species, Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771), is contentious. Lendon (1973), Condon (1975) and Sibley & Monroe (1990) took the former view, and Peters (1937), Cain (1955), Wolters (1975-1982), Forshaw (1978) and White & Bruce (1986), the latter. Neither alternative has been documented recently; thus a review here is needed to reach a decision.
The Trichoglossus haematodus complex comprises (a) monotypic Trichoglossus ornatus (Linnaeus, 1771) from Sulawesi which has been treated consistently as allospecifically distinct since Peters (1937); (b) small, short-tailed and ventrally chlorotic T. weberi Büttikofer, 1894) from Flores which, although commonly treated as a race of haematodus (Peters 1937; Forshaw 1978; White & Bruce 1986), is of disputed affinity (references in White & Bruce loc. cit.); and (c) five principal regional groups of haematodus-like forms with bluish heads, coloured collars, broad red/yellow breast bands, and yellow bands and washes through the under-remiges and retrices respectively. The five regional groups are:
(i) forsteni Bonaparte, 1850-of three to four subspecies in the Lesser Sundas: small and short-tailed, with blackish blue head, broad pale green collar, dark green mantle under-spotted obscurely red, scarlet underwing coverts, plain deep scarlet breast, bluish black upper belly and deep green lower belly mottled diffusely yellow;
(ii) capistratus Bechstein, 1811-of three subspecies in the eastern Lesser Sundas: large and long-tailed, with greenish or dusky-blue face grading to deep blue crown, broad yellowish-green collar, mid green mantle under-spotted yellow, yellow under-wing coverts, almost plain golden-yellow breast, dark or bluish-green upper belly and light yellowish-green lower belly mottled dark green;
(iii) haematodus Linnaeus, 1771-of 10-11 subspecies from the Moluccas and islands in the Arafura Sea through New Guinea and Melanesian archipelagos to Vanuatu and New Caledonia: medium in size and tail, with dull blue face grading to purplish dusky crown, narrow pale green collar, dark green mantle under-spotted red, scarlet breast barred dusky-blue, dark green upper belly and yellow lower belly coarsely spotted dark green;
(iv) moluccanus Gmelin, 1788-of three subspecies in eastern Australia: medium to large in size and tail, with royal blue head, narrow pale green collar, mid green mantle under-spotted red, yellowish scarlet under-wing coverts, unbarred but shaded yellow and scarlet breast, deep royal blue upper and lower belly, with fine green spotting over yellow restricted to crissum and flanks;
(v) rubritorquis Vigors & Horsfield, 1827-apparently monotypic in northwestern Australia and several islands in the eastern Lesser Sundas (Visar, Romang): rather large and long-tailed, with royal blue head, broad orange-red collar, deep blue mantle under-spotted red (grading to mid green on back), orange-red under-wing coverts, plain orange-red breast, bluish-black upper and lower belly, with yellow and green spotting restricted as in moluccanus Gmelin, 1788.
The first three groups, which are widespread in Wallacea, have already been recognised by White & Bruce (1986). With one exception, all five merit separation as allospecies according to the criteria for taxonomic definition given in the Introduction (see Taxonomic Scope), as do also weberi Büttikofer, 1894 and ornatus Linnaeus, 1758. The exception is moluccanus Gmelin, 1788 which is linked to haematodus Linnaeus, 1771 by a morphologically intermediate population, caeruleiceps D'Albertiz & Salvadori, 1879, in the Trans-Fly region of southern New Guinea. Members of none of the others are intermediate or known to intergrade where they approach one another geographically, for example, moluccanus and rubritorquis around the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Hartert (1904) reported possible intergradation between rubritorquis and the capistratus group on Romang, but his evidence is based on a single questionable record and requires substantiation.
Accordingly, the arrangement of Condon (1975) and Sibley & Monroe (1990) is followed here for Australian species in the haematodus complex. The form on northern Torres Strait islands adjacent to the south of New Guinea is presumed here to be T. h. caeruleiceps d'Albertis & Salvadori, 1870 (see Mees, G.F. (1982). Birds from the lowlands of southern New Guinea (Merauke and Koembe). Zool. Verh. 191: 1-188 4 pls).
Barnardius zonarius (Shaw, 1805)-The four principal forms of ringnecks (barnardi Vigors & Horsfield, 1827, macgillivrayi North, 1900, semitorquatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1830, and zonarius Shaw, 1805) are treated as subspecies within one species, contrary to much current convention but consistent with the polytypic species and intergradation criteria adopted here for the definition of species. All four forms are allopatric/parapatric and intergrade through wide zones where they meet. B. z. semitorquatus intergrades with nominotypical zonarius through south-western Australia (Condon 1941, 1975; Hall 1974; Serventy & Whittell 1976; Ford 1987). Nominotypical zonarius intergrades with B. z. barnardi through the Flinders Range, SA east towards NSW (Cain 1955; Fisher 1970; Hall loc. cit.). Because of this, nominal infra-specific taxa based on intergrading material from that region by Peters (1937), Condon (ll.cc.), Cain (loc. cit.) and Forshaw (1981) are rejected here as indeterminable. B. z. barnardi, in turn, intergrades with B. z. macgillivrayi through the central-upper Diamantina River drainage, Qld (material in ANWC). Differences of opinion over the affinities of macgillivrayi-whether with barnardi, based on head and cheek pattern and discolorous back and rump (Condon 1941; Forshaw loc. cit.), or with zonarius, based on green frons and broad yellow ventral band (Ford & Parker 1974)-serve to stress the specific coherence of the group. Within nominotypical zonarius, northern and centralian populations have been separated subspecifically by Condon (loc. cit.), Cain (loc. cit.) and Forshaw (loc. cit.). Nevertheless, their supposed pallidness is slight, apparently clinal and often due to wear (also Hall loc. cit.). A comprehensive analysis of geographic differentiation and regional introgression in this species has yet to be published.
Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae (Sparrman, 1787)-The case made by McAllan & Bruce (1989) to separate the large form on Norfolk Island specifically lacks sufficient comparative data to support a departure from conventional polytypic arrangements of this species (Peters 1937).
Neophema splendida (Gould, 1841)-Although no regional differentiation has been recognised by recent revisers (e.g. Cain 1955), geographic variation has never been documented comprehensively.
Neophema chrysogaster (Latham, 1790)-Separation of Tasmanian from Australian mainland populations subspecifically by Mathews (1912) and his subsequent revisions, and by Peters (1937) did not appreciate that their mainland records were probably of non-breeding migrants from Tasmania.
Neophema elegans (Gould, 1837)-Peters (1937), Cain (1955), and Condon (1975) agreed that the two western and south-central Australian isolates are subspecifically differentiated. It is an interpretation followed tentatively here because south-central populations appear to be more extensively and intensely yellow ventrally, sex for sex, than the more citrine-washed form in the west, and to have a brighter blue frons band, cf. Hall (1974). Nevertheless, because Lendon (1973) and Forshaw (1981) disagree, a comprehensive analysis of geographic variation is needed.
Neophema petrophila (Gould, 1841)-Circumstances and status as for N. elegans (Gould, 1837).
Neopsephotus bourkii (Gould, 1841)-Although no subspecies are recognised, there has been no comprehensive assessment of geographic variation in confirmation (cf. Cain 1955; Ford 1969). Because of the semi-isolation of western, centralian and Lake Eyre basin populations, a modern survey is needed.
Northiella haematogaster (Gould, 1938)-The arrangement and geographic limits of infra-specific taxa in the Lake Eyre and Murray-Darling basins are tentative here, pending clarification of their zones of intergradation. Gene flow, judged by variation in plumage, appears to be wide and deep.
Pezoporus wallicus (Kerr, 1792)-Infra-specific differentiation in eastern Australian populations is disputed, Lendon (1973), Condon (1975) and Forshaw (1981) accepting none, and Peters (1937), Condon (1942) and Ford (1969) separating the Tasmanian isolate. The latter interpretation is followed here pending comparison of fresh unfaded south-eastern Australian and Tasmanian material; Tasmanian populations appear to be deeper green and more heavily marked with black than those on the mainland, particularly their females.
Platycercus caledonicus (Gmelin, 1788)-Contrary to convention, King Island populations, which were isolated from Tasmania well before those on the other Bass Strait islands (Schodde 1982: 47), are separated subspecifically here, being duller in tone with a green cast to the ventrum, orange cast to the brow, and citrine cast to the coppery rump (material in QVM). Such a situation highlights the need for a comprehensive analysis of differentiation between Tasmanian and all Bass Strait island populations. Cain (1955) has argued a case, supported by data in Ovenden et al. (1987: figs 3-5), for treating this group as specifically discrete from P. elegans (Gmelin, 1788), cf. Peters (1937).
Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788)-Specific and infra-specific systematics is subject to continued argument. Here the principal forms (crimson elegans Gmelin, 1788, orange 'adelaidae` Gould, 1841, and yellow flaveolus Gould, 1837) are treated as members of one polytypic species for three reasons:
(1) they are allopatric/parapatric yet intergrade wherever they meet (Boehm 1959; Joseph & Hope 1984; Ford 1987);
(2) they form a closely related cluster relative to other rosellas, judged by both morphology and their mitochondrial genomes (Ovenden et al. 1987: figs 3-5); and
(3) most recent revisers have combined them in this way, see Condon (1941, 1975), Cain (1955), Immelmann (1966) and Wolters (1975-1982).
Of minor regional forms, the status of crimson populations in central-east Queensland and of orange populations in the Mt Lofty Range, SA, needs further clarification. Although McAllan & Bruce (1989) distinguished the former subspecifically, a larger range of material in ANWC and QM shows it to be no darker or smaller than populations on the coast ranges of the Brisbane River valley at the northern end of a cline in these traits in nominotypical elegans; so the central-east Queensland enclave is not distinguished here pending evaluation of its reportedly red juveniles. Populations through the Mt Lofty Range north to the Bundaleer hills are individually variable and intermediate on a gradient between a rather uniformly orange-red form on Fleurieu Peninsula (fleurieuensis Ashby, 1917) and a similarly uniform but orange-yellow form in the south Flinders Range (subadelaidae Mathews, 1912). Accordingly, the central Mt Lofty Range populations are treated here as intergrades between fleurieuensis and subadelaidae and the name based on them (adelaidae Gould, 1841) as indeterminable, see Incertae sedis. By implication, fleurieuensis and subadelaidae represent ancestral populations; their relationships to one another and to other members of the complex, however, need clarification. For assessments of the status of populations in the Mt Lofty Range, see Ashby in Mathews (1916, introductory chapter), Ashby (1925), Condon (1941, 1954), Serventy (1953), Cain (loc. cit.), and Joseph & Hope (loc. cit.). The crimson isolate on Kangaroo Island is distinct in the obsolete crimson scalloping on its mantle and in its black nuchal patch.
Platycercus eximius (Shaw, 1792)-The principal forms of white-cheeked rosellas-red-headed eximius Shaw, 1792, white-headed adscitus Latham, 1790, and black-headed venustus Kuhl, 1820-may prove members of one polytypic species, given the morphological intermediacy of Cape York Peninsula populations between white-headed populations to the south and venustus in north-western Australia, see Schodde & Tidemann (1986). Nevertheless, only adscitus is combined with eximius here, for two reasons consistent with the criteria for taxonomic definition used in this Catalogue:
(1) adscitus is established as intergrading with eximius in the NSW-QLD border region (Cannon 1984; Ford 1987);
(2) no case has yet been made in the primary scientific literature for combining allopatric venustus as well.
Ovenden et al. (1987) also recorded adscitus as closer to eximius than venustus. Cannon's (loc. cit.) reported segregation between adscitus and eximius in their zone of intergradation cannot be taken at face value because her identifications were based on field observations incapable of determining all intergrading individuals, particularly those approaching parental forms phenotypically. Cape York Penisula populations are kept with the pale-headed group, adscitus Latham, 1790, as is conventional; and only two subspecies are accepted in that group, after Condon (1941), Forshaw (1981) and Ford (1986). Of the additional subspecies recognised by Cain (1955), mackaiensis Cain, 1955 is indistinguishable from southern palliceps Lear, 1832, and elseyi Mathews, 1912 is from the zone of intergradation between Cape York Peninsula and more southerly populations and so unidentifiable, see Incertae sedis.
Platycercus venustus (Kuhl, 1820)-Although Condon (1941), Cain (1955), Immelmann (1966) and Forshaw (1981) rejected subspecies, Kimberley and Arnhem Land populations differ in both the extent of blue edging to cheek patches and of black scalloping on the ventrum (Lendon 1973: 192).
Psephotus dissimilis Collett, 1898-Despite a trend to combine this form with P. chrysopterygius Gould, 1858 (Cain 1955; Wolters 1975-1982; Forshaw 1981), it is kept separate here for two reasons. Firstly, its differences in size, sexual dimorphism and patterns on head and ventrum are considerable and relatively greater, for example, than those between Northern and Cape York Peninsula Eastern Rosellas (Platycercus venustus (Kuhl, 1820) and P. eximius adscitus (Latham, 1790)). Secondly, to merge it with chrysopterygius creates an unbalanced taxonomy with respect to allospecific Psephotus pulcherrimus (Gould, 1845), see Introduction (Taxonomic scope) to this volume. Speciation among all three members of subgenus Psephotellus Mathews, 1913 is in need of clarification.
Psephotus varius Clark, 1910-Males of south-eastern Murray Mallee populations are marginally richer green dorsally and deeper red ventrally than elsewhere, but the differences are slight and clinal, and do not justify the subspecies recognised by Peters (1937), Condon (1941, 1975) and Cain (1955).
Eclectus roratus (P.L.S. Müller, 1776)-It has not been appreciated that members of this species visiting the northern Torres Strait islands of Boigu, Dauan and Saibai adjacent to the southern New Guinea coast are of the New Guinea sub-species, E. r. polychloros Scopoli, 1786 which differs from the Cape York Peninsula form in its brighter grass-green males and smaller size: male wings about 250-270 mm and female wings about 240-260 mm vs. about 285-300 mm and about 275-290 mm respectively on Cape York Peninsula. For a survey of infra-specific groups, see White & Bruce (1986).
Geoffroyus geoffroyi (Bechstein, 1811)-Although usually combined subspecifically with the southern New Guinean form (e.g. Forshaw 1966), Cape York Peninsula populations nevertheless differ in their lighter, pale sky-blue underwing coverts, reduced occipital blue in males, and (?) deeper plum-chestnut heads in mature females. Circumscription of the species is based on Rothschild & Hartert (1901).
Cyclopsitta diophthalma (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841)-Although Mayr (1947) correctly presumed that Cape York Peninsula populations were the Australian representatives of southern New Guinean C. p. aruensis Schlegel, 1874, Forshaw (1967) subsequently showed them to be distinct subspecifically.
Alisterus scapularis (Lichtenstein, 1816)-Recorded geographic limits of the two recognised Australian subspecies are conflicting, see Condon (1975), cf. Forshaw (1981). Those defined here are based on a review of all material in all Australian museums, including recently gathered specimens from the Clarke Range and Kroombit Tops, central-eastern Queensland, in the ANWC and QM. They indicate that large nominotypical scapularis extends north to the Clarke Range (pace Forshaw loc. cit.) and that small, dark A. s. minor Mathews, 1911 ranges no further south than the Seaview-Paluma Ranges, north Queensland (pace Condon loc. cit.).
Diagnosis
Small to medium-sized, short-necked and brilliantly coloured birds with hooked and cered bills, and plumage coloured by non-carotenoid pigments of as yet unknown composition and back-scattering of light through hollow cortical cylinders (blue-and-green 'dyck texture') in feather barbs; body feathering rather coarse, in diffuse tracts, powder downs obsolete; aftershafts present, downy; uropygial gland developed and tufted (except some Arinae). Feet zygodactylous and specialized for climbing; tarsi short with fine reticulate scaling, toes longer, reticulately scaled, may or may not hold food to bill. Sexes usually similar; markedly dimorphic only in Eclectus and some Neophema. Wings rounded or pointed, with or without coloured stripes or patches: 10 primaries moulting usually regularly in both directions from the 6th, and 10 diastataxic secondaries moulting descendently, at least in Platycercinae; tail long and/or tapered: 12 rectrices (14 in Oreopsittacus) moulting erratically. Nares holorhinal and impervious, nasal septum imperforate; desmognathous palate without vomer, maxillaries articulating with deep, twisted and laterally flattened palatines, maxillae attached to skull by a flexible joint, lachrymals extended in processes that rarely reach squamosals, leaving orbit open; basipterygoid processes absent; cervical vertebrae 13-14; sternum entire or 1-fenestrated on each side, only spina externa present, clavicles ankylosed in furcula or vestigial. Musculus expansor secundariorum and biceps slip absent, M. tensores patagii huge and covering the M. deltoidei, M. t. p. brevis with a wristward slip, and anterior M. deltoideus usually larger than the posterior (except Nestorini); pelvic muscle formula AXY, M. ambiens present or absent (Australian continental taxa); deep plantar tendons Type I. Carotid arteries paired, fused or left superficial. Syrinx bronchial, the first rings upcurved, ossified and fused (except Nestorini). Tongue muscular, tactile, grooved, pocked or with a cluster of eversible papillae enclosed at tip, moved by hyoid apparatus with extensive median foramen in entoglossum and broad basihyal process; crop and zonary proventriculus present; no gall bladder; no caeca. Diploid karyotype of c. 70 chromosomes, with 6-7 pairs of non-telocentric macrochromosomes (examined taxa limited).
General References
Ashby, E. 1925. The Adelaide Rosella (Platycercus adelaidae. The Emu 25: 89-90
Beddard, F.E. 1898. The Structure and Classification of Birds. London : Longmans, Green xx 548 pp.
Boehm, E.F. 1959. Parrots and cockatoos of the Mount Mary Plains, South Australia. The Emu 59: 83-87
Brereton, J. Le G. 1963. Evolution within the Psittaciformes. Proceedings of the XIII International Ornithological Congress 1: 499-517
Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432-479
Cannon, C.E. 1984. Rosellas, Platycercus spp., and their hybrids in the eastern Queensland - New South Wales border region. The Australian Zoologist 21: 175-183
Christidis, L., Schodde, R., Shaw, D.D. & Maynes, S.F. 1991. Relationships among the Australo-Papuan parrots, lorikeets, and cockatoos (Aves: Psittaciformes): protein evidence. Condor 93: 302-317
Condon, H.T. 1941. The Australian broadtailed parrots (subfamily Platycercinae). Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 7: 117-144
Condon, H.T. 1942. The Ground Parrot (Pezoporus wallicus) in South Australia. South Australian Ornithologist 16: 4-7
Ford, J. 1969. Distribution and taxonomic notes on some parrots from Western Australia. South Australian Ornithologist 25: 99-105
Ford, J. 1986. Avian hybridization and allopatry in the region of the Einasleigh uplands and Burdekin-Lynd divide, north-eastern Queensland. The Emu 86: 87-110
Ford, J. 1987. Hybrid zones in Australian birds. The Emu 87: 158-178
Ford, J. & Parker, S.A. 1974. Distribution and taxonomy of some birds from south-western Queensland. The Emu 74: 177-194
Forshaw, J.M. 1966. Observations and systematic notes on the Red-cheeked Parrot. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 14: 175-180
Forshaw, J.M. 1967. The subspecies of the Fig Parrot, Opopsitta diophthalma. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 15: 43-52
Glenny, F.H. 1957. A revised classification of the Psittaciformes based on the carotid artery arrangement patterns. Annals of Zoology Agra 2: 47-56
Guntert, M. 1981. Morphologische untersuchungen der adaptiven radiation des verdauungstraktes Papageien (Psacci). Zoologische Jahrbucher. Abteilung für Anatomie 106: 471-526
Hartert, E. 1904. The birds of the South-West Islands Wetter, Roma, Kisser, Letti and Moa. Novitates Zoologicae 11: 174-221
Holyoak, D.T. 1970. The relation of the parrot genus Opopsitta to Psittaculirostris. The Emu 70: 198
Holyoak, D.T. 1973. Comments on taxonomy and relationships in the parrot subfamilies Nestorinae, Loriinae and Platycercinae. The Emu 73: 157-176
Homberger, D.G. 1980. Funktionell-morphologische Untersuchungen zur Radiation der Ernährungs—und Trinkmethoden der Papageien (Psittaci). Bonner Zoologische Monographien 13: 1-192
Joseph, L. & Hope, R. 1984. Aspects of genetic relationships and variation in parrots of the Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans complex (Aves: Psittacidae). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 108: 77-84
Kuroda, N. 1967. Psittacidae of the World. Tokyo : Ornithol. Soc. Japan 849 pp.
Leeton, P.R.J., Christidis, L., Westerman, M. & Boles, W.E. 1994. Molecular phylogenetic relationships of the Night Parrot (Geopsittacus occidentalis) and the Ground Parrot (Pezoporus wallicus). Auk 111: 833-843
Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912]
Mayr, E. 1947. A parrot new for Australia. The Emu 47: 54-55
Mayr, E. & Amadon, D. 1951. A classification of recent birds. American Museum Novitates 1496: 1-42
McAllan, I.A.W. & Bruce, M.D. 1989. The Birds of New South Wales A Working List. Turramurra, New South Wales : Biocon Research Group vii 103 pp. [publication dated 1988, published May 1989]
Ovenden, J.R., Mackinlay, A.G. & Crozier, R.H. 1987. Systematics and mitochondrial genome evolution of Australian rosellas (Aves: Platycercidae). Journal of Molecular Biology and Evolution 4: 526-543
Renzoni, A. & Watters, P.A. 1972. Comparative observations on the pineal body of some Australian parrots. Australian Journal of Zoology 20: 1-15
Robinson, A. 1960. The importance of the marri as a food source to south-western Australian birds. Western Australian Naturalist 7: 109-115
Rothschild, W. & Hartert, E. 1901. Notes on Papuan birds. Novitates Zoologicae 8: 55-88
Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1981. Nocturnal Birds of Australia. Illustrated by Jeremy Boot. Melbourne : Lansdowne Edns 136 pp. 22 pls. [publication dated as 1980]
Serventy, D.L. 1938. The King Parrot of Western Australia - Purpureicephalus spurius (Kuhl, 1820). The Emu 37: 169-172 pl. 28
Serventy, D.L. 1953. Some speciation problems in Australian birds. The Emu 53: 131-145
Smith, G.A. 1975. Systematics of parrots. Ibis 117: 18-68
Streseman, E. 1927. Sauropsida: Aves. pp. in Kükenthal, W. & Krumbach, Th. (eds). Handbuch der Zoologie. Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tiereiches. Berlin : W. de Gruyter Bd 7, Hft 2 xi 899 pp. [Date published 1927–1934]
Suh, A., Paus, M., Kiefmann, M., Churakov, G., Franke, F.A., Brosius, J., Kriegs, J.O. & Schmitz, J. 2011. Mesozoic retroposons reveal parrots as the closest living relatives of passerine birds. Nature Communications [Date published Aug. 2011]
Thompson, D'A.W. 1899. On characteristic points in the cranial osteology of the parrots. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1899: 9-46
Verheyen, R. 1956. Analyse du potentiel morphologique et projet d'une nouvelle classification des Psittaciformes. Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique 32(55): 1-54
Wetmore, A. 1960. A classification for the birds of the world. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 139(11): 1-37
White, C.M.N. 1938. 1. The races of Glossopsitta concinna (Shaw). 2. The races of Geopelia striata in Australia. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 58: 114-115
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
25-Aug-2011 | MODIFIED |
Subfamily Platycercinae
Compiler and date details
August 2011 - ABRS on advice from Wayne Longmore, Museum Victoria
Introduction
Classification updated following Joseph et al. (2012).
General References
Joseph, L., Toon, A., Schirtzinger, E.E., Wright, T.F. & Schodde, R. 2012. A revised nomenclature and classification for family-group taxa of parrots (Psittaciformes). Zootaxa 3205: 26-42
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
16-Aug-2011 | MODIFIED |
Tribe Platycercini
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |
- Barnardius Bonaparte, C.L. 1854. Tableau des perroquets. Revue et Magasin de Zoologie (Paris) 2 6: 145-158 [153] [published without description but based by indirect reference on the nominal species Platycercus barnardi Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 and available under ICZN Art. 12(b)(5); type species established by use of species-group name typicus, see ICZN Art. 68(c)].
Type species:
Barnardius typicus Bonaparte, 1854 by indication (=Platycercus barnardi Vigors & Horsfield, 1827).
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia
IBRA
NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, 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), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), 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), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), 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), 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), Victorian Midlands (VM), 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, N Gulf
- South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, W plateau
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin
- Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
General References
Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432-479 (generic arrangement)
Condon, H.T. 1941. The Australian broadtailed parrots (subfamily Platycercinae). Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 7: 117-144 (generic arrangement)
Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. (generic arrangement)
Ford, J. & Parker, S.A. 1974. Distribution and taxonomy of some birds from south-western Queensland. The Emu 74: 177-194 (generic arrangement (for data))
Holyoak, D.T. 1973. Comments on taxonomy and relationships in the parrot subfamilies Nestorinae, Loriinae and Platycercinae. The Emu 73: 157-176 (generic arrangement)
Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic 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. (generic arrangement)
Sibley, C.G. & Monroe, B.L., Jr 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. New Haven : Yale University Press xxiv 1111 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |
Taxonomic Decision for Subspecies Arrangement
- 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. [140] (based on data in Ford, J. & Parker, S.A. 1974. Distribution and taxonomy of some birds from south-western Queensland. Emu 74: 177–194; Fisher, D. 1970. Geographic variation and evolution in the Australian Ringneck Parrot (Barnardius). Ph.D. Thesis. Michigan : University of Michigan.; Ford, J. 1987. Hybrid zones in Australian birds. Emu 87: 158–178)
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia
IBRA
NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, 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), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), 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), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), 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), 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), Victorian Midlands (VM), 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, N Gulf
- South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, W plateau
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin
- Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
General References
Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432-479 (presenting alternative taxonomic 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)
Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Forshaw, J.M. 1981. Australian Parrots. 2nd (revised) Edn. Illustrated by W.T. Cooper. Melbourne : Lansdowne Edns 312 pp. 56 pls. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Immelmann, K. 1966. Die australischen Plattschweifsittiche. Wittenberg, Lutherstadt : A. Ziemsen (Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei) 128 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Jenkins, C.F.H. 1931. The genus Barnardius. The Emu 30: 258-260 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Kinghorn, J.R. 1929. Barnardius occidentalis North and its allies. The Emu 29: 1-4 pl. 1 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
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)
Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. (subspecific arrangement and specific limits only)
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)
Sibley, C.G. & Monroe, B.L., Jr 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. New Haven : Yale University Press xxiv 1111 pp. (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
Wolters, H.E. 1975. Die Vogelarten der Erde. Eine systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen und englischen Namen. Hamburg : Paul Parey Lief. 1, 1-80 pp. (subspecific arrangement (except for acceptance of B. z. whitei (Mathews, 1912) as valid subspecies))
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |
Subspecies Barnardius zonarius barnardi (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
- Platycercus barnardi Vigors, N.A. & Horsfield, T. 1827. A description of the Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 15: 170-331 [Date published 17 Feb 1827: publication dated 1826] [283] [as Barnardi; also as incorrect subsequent spelling, bernardi by Bonaparte, C.L. 1854. Tableau des perroquets. Rev. Mag. Zool. Paris 2 6: 145–158 (153); 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, after 18 Aug. 1838); based by reference on Barnard's Parrot in Latham, J. 1822. A General History of Birds. Winchester : J. Latham Vol. II 345 pp. pls 18–37 (121), in turn based a specimen from 'the interior' of 'New-Holland' presented to the collection of the Linnean Society of London by E. Barnard; for identification of holotype, see 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 (559); 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.; provenance of specimen uncertain, but it must have been acquired by the Linnean Society of London after 1919 when H. Kuhl and C.J. Temminck worked over its collection of parrots, and before 1822 when its first vernacular description appeared, see Latham, J. 1822. A General History of Birds. Winchester : J. Latham Vol. II 345 pp. pls 18–37; possible sources then were the two expeditions under John Oxley to the lower Lachlan, middle Macquarie and Castlereagh Rivers, NSW, in 1817 and 1818: they were the only expeditions of the time to penetrate the range of this form, on its eastern fringes—this supposition is strengthened by the associated acquisition of male(s) of Polytelis swainsonii (Desmarest, 1826) by the Linnean Society of London, see Latham (1822) (Scarlet-breasted Parrot)].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 1863. 7.7.54 unsexed adult (=♂) (ex. Linnean Society of London coll.), New South Wales, probably the region of the middle-lower Lachlan and Macquarie River drainages (as 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. [143] (cf. Psittacus barrabandii Swainson, 1821 =Polytelis swainsonii (Desmarest, 1826), q.v.). - Barnardius typicus Bonaparte, C.L. 1854. Tableau des perroquets. Revue et Magasin de Zoologie (Paris) 2 6: 145-158 [153] [nom. nov. for Platycercus barnardi Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 (as Bernardi Latham)].
Type data:
Syntype(s). - Barnardius crommelinae Mathews, G.M. 1925. A new form of Barnardius. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 46: 21 [21] [described in life from an aviary bird in the collection of the Marquess of Tavistock, which was presented to BMNH upon death, 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.; holotype illustrated on frontispiece to no. 6 of vol. 5, ser. 4, of the Avicultural Magazine (June 1927), and on pl. 43 in Mathews, G.M. 1928. The Birds of Norfolk & Lord Howe Islands and the Australasian South Polar Quadrant with Additions to "The Birds of Australia". London : H.F. & G. Witherby xii 139 pp. pls 1–45; interpreted as a blue mutant in which flavonoid pigmentation is lacking by Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. and Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia Pt 1 Non-passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp.—nonetheless, both plates show a bird with a rich blue back, broken yellow collar, and plain, unbanded green breast and belly, traits not uncommonly matched in specimens of B. z. barnardi (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) from the Murray Mallee, SA, to the Riverina, NSW].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 1933.1.18.1 ♀ adult, Murray Mallee to Riverina, inland SE Australia (as Australia(?)).
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- 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. [142]
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria
Extra Distribution Information
Inland E Australia, north to near Winton and Barcaldine, QLD—east to the western footslopes of the Great Dividing range to the Warrego and Carnarvon Ranges and Inglewood, QLD, and Delungra, Wellington, Cowra and Wagga Wagga, NSW, avoiding Warrumbungle Range—south to Howlong, NSW, Bendigo, VIC, and southern limits of Murray Mallee and Ninety-mile Desert (Dimboola-Bordertown-Kingston), SA—west to eastern footslopes of Mt Lofty-Flinders Range system, SA, and patchily north-west to Strzelecki Creek, middle Cooper Creek and Farrars Creek (Cudappan), QLD. Intergrades with B. z. zonarius (Shaw, 1805) through N Mt Lofty-Flinders Range system, west from north Murray Mallee-Olary Spur and Lake Frome to eastern shores of Lake Torrens depression and Spencer Gulf, north to the Frome River and south to Eudunda-Brinkworth, SA—also intergrades with B. z. macgillivrayi (North, 1900) on central-upper Diamantina River drainage (specimens in ANWC). Introduced in region of Sydney (status uncertain).
IBRA
NSW, Qld, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), 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), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Victorian Midlands (VM)
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- New South Wales: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
- Queensland: Bulloo River basin, Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin
- South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs
- Victoria: Murray-Darling basin
Ecological Descriptors
Arboreal, diurnal, florivore, folivore, frugivorous, granivore, gregarious, low open woodland, low woodland, nomadic, open forest, resident, terrestrial, volant, woodland.
Extra Ecological Information
Seasonal breeder, restricted to eucalypt-lined watercourses in arid parts of range, feeds mainly on seeds on ground and in trees (mostly eucalypts and Callitris), flies in shallow undulations bringing wings in to side of body, 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 regionally to seasonal food sources.
General References
Boehm, E.F. 1959. Parrots and cockatoos of the Mount Mary Plains, South Australia. The Emu 59: 83-87 (diet, nidification, plumage changes)
Simpson, K.N.G. 1973. Birds of the Murray River region between Mildura and Renmark, Australia - breeding, behavioural and feeding records. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne 34: 253-274 (feeding ecology, nidification)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |
Subspecies Barnardius zonarius macgillivrayi (North, 1900)
- Platycercus macgillivrayi North, A.J. 1900. Description of a new parrakeet from the Burke district, north Queensland. Victorian Naturalist 17: 91-93 [91].
Type data:
Holotype AM 0.11837 unsexed (?♂) adult, Leilavale Station, Fullarton River, 48 km E of Cloncurry, QLD (as about 30 miles east of Cloncurry)
Comment: for identification of holotype, see Hindwood, K.A. 1946. A list of the types and paratypes of birds from Australian localities in the Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales. Records of the Australian Museum 21: 386–393; Longmore (1991).Type locality references:
Longmore, N.W. 1991. Type specimens of birds in the Australian Museum. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum n 4: 1-42.
Distribution
States
Northern Territory, Queensland
Extra Distribution Information
Selwyn Range and fringing river systems, QLD, north to Musselbrook Creek and middle Leichhardt River, east to middle Cloncurry River and Cadell Creek, south to Glenormiston and Boulia, and west to Toko-Tarlton Ranges and Springvale, NT, but apparently absent from much of intervening Georgina River system (specimens in ANWC). Intergrades to south-east with B. z. barnardi (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) along upper Diamantina River drainage.
IBRA
NT, Qld: Burt Plain (BRT), Channel Country (CHC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Finke (FIN), Gulf Plains (GUP), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD)
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin
- Queensland: Lake Eyre basin, N Gulf
Ecological Descriptors
Arboreal, diurnal, florivore, folivore, frugivorous, granivore, gregarious, low open woodland, low woodland, nomadic, resident, terrestrial, volant, woodland.
Extra Ecological Information
Seasonal breeder, in eucalypt woodlands and eucalypt-lined watercourses, feeds mainly on seeds on ground and in trees, flies in shallow undulations bringing wings in to side of body, 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 regionally to seasonal food sources.
General References
Ford, J. & Parker, S.A. 1974. Distribution and taxonomy of some birds from south-western Queensland. The Emu 74: 177-194 (distribution, evolution)
Horton, W. 1975. The birds of Mt. Isa. Sunbird 6: 49-69 (status, nidification)
Lendon, A.H. 1940. Eggs of the Cloncurry Parrot. South Australian Ornithologist 15: 82 (nidification)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |
- Barnardius zonarius parkeri Forshaw, J.M. & Joseph, L. 2016. A new subspecies of the Australian Ringneck (Barnardius zonarius) from the Upper Cooper Creek Drainage, Lake Eyre Basin, central Australia. Emu 116: 440-444 [443].
Type data:
Holotype SAMA B36278 adult ♂, 15 km north-east of Cullyamurra [Callamurra on label] Waterhole, north-east of Innamincka, South Australia.
Paratype(s) SAMA B37701 adult ♂, Scrubby Creek Waterhole, north-western arm of Cooper Creek, South Australia; ANWC B40104 adult ♂, on arm of Cooper Creek, west by north-west of Innamincka, South Australia; ANWC B 40100 adult ♀, on arm of Cooper Creek, west by north-west of Innamincka, South Australia.
Distribution
States
Queensland, South Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Upper Cooper Creek, northeast SA to southwest QLD
IBRA
Qld, SA: Channel Country (CHC), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
AVES | 13-Mar-2020 | ADDED |
Subspecies Barnardius zonarius semitorquatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830)
- Psittacus semitorquatus Quoy, J.R.C. & Gaimard, J.P. in Dumont-d'Urville, J. 1830. Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les anneés 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le commandement de M.J. Dumont-d'Urville. Zoologie. Paris : J. Tastu Vol. 1 i 268 pp. [no month of publication] [237] [holotype figured on pl. 23 in Dumont-d'Urville, J. 1833. Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabeexécuté pendant les années 1826–1827–1828–1829 sous le commandement de M.J. Dumont-d'Urville, Capitaine de vaisseau. Atlas. Paris : J. Tastu Oiseaux 31 pls pp.].
Type data:
Holotype MNHP, King George Sound, WA (as port du Roi-Georges). - Platycercus baueri Lear, E. 1831. Illustrations of the family of Psittacidae, or Parrots: the greater part of them species hitherto unfigured, containing forty-two lithographic plates, drawn from life, and on stone. London : E. Lear 42 pls, Pt VI. [published between 1830–1832; Pt VI, Aug. 1831] [pl. 17] [junior homonym of Psittacus baueri Temminck, 1821, senior secondary homonym in Barnardius Bonaparte, 1854; baueri applied to this form by Lear as a new name without reference, see also 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 (559), 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.] and subsequent revisions and Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia Pt 1 Non-passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. who treat it as a misapplication of Psittacus baueri Temminck, 1821; published without description or locality but in association with a coloured illustration and available under ICZN Art. 12(b)(7)—the figure is identifiable with B. z. semitorquatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) from its red frons and vari-toned green ventrum; as subject drawn from life in England, the likely type locality is the Swan River around Perth (colonized 1829) or the region of Albany (garrisoned 1826)].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost, figured on pl. 17 in Lear, E. 1831. Illustrations of the family of Psittacidae, or Parrots: the greater part of them species hitherto unfigured, containing forty-two lithographic plates, drawn from life, and on stone. London : E. Lear 42 pls, Pt VI pp. [published between 1830–1832; Pt VI, Aug. 1831]), Swan River or King George Sound, WA. - Conurus caeruleobarbatus Bourjot Saint-Hilaire, A. 1838. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets, troisième volume (Supplémentaire), pour faire suite aux deux volumes de Levaillant, contenant les espèces laissées inédites par cet auteur ou récemment découvertes. Paris : F.G. Levrault xl 110 pp. 111 pls. [publication dated as 1837–1838] [pl. 40] [as caeruleo-barbatus; name unavailable, being a latinized substantive for a French vernacular name in an inconsistently binominal publication, see 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. (Appendix C), cf. ICZN Art 11(c); institution uncertain, figured on pl. 40 in Bourjot Saint-Hilaire, A. 1838. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets, troisième volume (Supplémentaire), pour faire suite aux deux volumes de Levaillant, contenant les espèces laissées inédites par cet auteur ou récemment découvertes. Paris : F.G. Levrault xl 110 pp. 111 pls [publication dated as 1837–1838]].
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- 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. [144]
Distribution
States
Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Coastal and subcoastal far SW WA, north and east to a front between Perth, the Darling Range and King George Sound, beyond which there is intergradation with B. z. zonarius (Shaw, 1805) as far as Jurien Bay, Moora, Cunerdin-Kelleberin, Lake Grace and Doubtful Bay. Introduced in region of Sydney (status uncertain).
IBRA
WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Esperance Plains (ESP), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)
Original AFD Distribution Data
Australian Region
- Australia
- Western Australia: SW coastal
Ecological Descriptors
Arboreal, diurnal, florivore, folivore, frugivorous, granivore, gregarious, nomadic, open forest, sedentary, tall forest, terrestrial, volant, woodland.
Extra Ecological Information
Seasonal breeder, in tall eucalypt forest and woodland, feeds mainly on seeds on ground and in trees (mostly eucalypts), flies in shallow undulations bringing wings in to side of body, nests on bed of wood dust/debris in tree hollows, incubation by female, both sexes rear pale grey-downed, yellowish-billed chicks, wanders locally to seasonal food sources.
General References
Jenkins, C.F.H. 1969. Notes on the feeding habits of some Western Australian birds. Western Australian Naturalist 11: 52-53 (diet, feeding ecology)
Long, J.L. 1984. The diets of three species of parrots in the south of Western Australia. Australian Wildlife Research 11: 357-371 [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. Mathews, G.M. & Iredale, T. 1915. On the ornithology of the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles (Levrault). Austral Avian Records 3: 5–20] (diet)
Robinson, A. 1960. The importance of the marri as a food source to south-western Australian birds. Western Australian Naturalist 7: 109-115 (diet, feeding, ecology)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |
Subspecies Barnardius zonarius zonarius (Shaw, 1805)
- Psittacus zonarius 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. 657] [source material not specified in original description nor in subsequent references, but venue and date of publication indicate that it was collected by Robert Brown on Matthew Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia in 1801–1803, and probably at Memory Cove near Port Lincoln, Eyre Peninsula: all material of this form reaching England up to the time of Gould appears to have come from the tip of Eyre Peninsula, 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.] (44); Brown's collections were deposited in BMNH with a second set going to the Linnean Society of London; only those in the Linnean Society survived, from which they were transferred to BMNH in 1863, see 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); 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. (19); Whittell, H.M. 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and Bibliography of Australian Ornithology. Perth : Paterson Brokensha xi 116 788 pp. (57–58): because type material of Psittacus zonarius Shaw, 1805 can no longer be traced, it is likely that it was part of the original R. Brown set in BMNH that was dispersed and lost].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost, ex Robert Brown coll.), Port Lincoln (=Memory Cove), SA (as Australasia).Type locality references:
Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912]. - Psittacus viridis Shaw, G. 1812. General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History. Aves. London : Kearsley, Wilkie & Robinson Vol. VIII Pt 2 vi pp. 244-557 pls 46-84. [Date published 1811] [465] [nom. nov. for Psittacus zonarius Shaw, 1805; junior homonym of Psittacus viridis Meuschen, 1787 (=Amazona farinosa (Boddaert, 1783)), nec Psittacus viridis Latham, 1790 (=Eclectus roratus (P.L.S. Müller, 1776)), nec Psittacus elegans viridis Kerr, 1792 (=Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788)), nec Psittacus viridis Perry, 1810 (=Pezoporus wallicus (Kerr, 1792))].
- Psittacus cyanomelas 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 Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae 10: 1-104 pls I-III [53] [based on specimen collected by Robert Brown at Memory Cove, SA, on Feb. 23, 1802, on Matthew Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia, see Vigors, N.A. & Horsfield, T. 1827. A description of the Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 15: 170–331 [publication dated 1826, published Feb. 1827] (40–58); 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.].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 1863.7.6.5 unsexed adult (ex Linnean Society of London coll.), Memory Cove, Eyre Peninsula, SA (as Nova Hollandia)
Comment: for identification of holotype, 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. - Psittacus melanocephalus 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 Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae 10: 1-104 pls I-III [53] [nom. nov. as synonym of Psittacus cyanomelas Kuhl, 1820, ex R. Brown ms; name unavailable under ICZN Art. 11(e)].
- Psittacus baueri Temminck, C.J. 1821. Account of some new species of birds of the genera Psittacus and Columba, in the Museum of the Linnean Society. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 13: 107-130 [publication dated as 1822] [118] [junior objective synonym of Psittacus cyanomelas Kuhl, 1820, based on same specimen, see entries under H. Kuhl & C.J. Temminck and these specific names in 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., Whittell, H.M. 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and Bibliography of Australian Ornithology. Perth : Paterson Brokensha xi 116 788 pp. and 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. (33, 74)].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 1863.7.6.5 unsexed adult (ex Linnean Society of London coll.), Memory Cove, Eyre Peninsula, SA (as Memory Cove, à la côte sud de la Nouvelle Hollande)
Comment: for identification of holotype, see 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 (561); 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. - Platycercus occidentalis North, A.J. 1893. Description of a new species of parrakeet, of the genus Platycercus, from North-West Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 2: 83-88 [83] [although measurements in original description based on one specimen, ensuing remarks by North in the protologue show that he had two specimens before him, both females from E.H. Saunders at Karratha, neither of which he designated as 'type'; Hindwood, K.A. 1946. A list of the types and paratypes of birds from Australian localities in the Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales. Records of the Australian Museum 21: 386–393 and Longmore, N.W. 1991. Type specimens of birds in the Australian Museum. Technichal Report of the Australian Museum n 4: 1–42 cite one of these, AM 0.3313, as holotype, effecting lectotypification under ICZN Art.74].
Type data:
Lectotype AM 0.3313 ♀ adult, Karratha Station, 36 miles SW of Roeburne, WA.
Paralectotype(s) AM 0.3312 ♀ adult.Subsequent designation references:
Hindwood, K.A. 1946. A list of the types and paratypes of birds from Australian localities in the Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales. Records of the Australian Museum 21: 386-393. - Platycercus zonarius connectens Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [274].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 623205 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 3870), Milly Pool, c. 35 km northwest of Wiluna, WA (as East Murchison)
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:
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. [141] (from itinerary of collector, see Whitlock, F.L. 1910. On the East Murchison. Four months collecting trip. Emu 9: 181–219). - Platycercus zonarius dundasi Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [274] [holotype figured on pl. 308 and described in detail on p. 375 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)]; for its identification, 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; holotype interpreted as approaching B. z. semitorquatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) in its dark grassy green back by Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432–479, nevertheless, its illustration of dark toning generally, black frons, and clearly demarcated ventral pattern match nominotypical B. z. zonarius (Shaw, 1805) from throughout its southern range—moreover, the type locality of dundasi is well east of the zone of intergradation between nominotypical zonarius and semitorquatus recorded by Serventy, D.L. & Whittell, H.M. 1976. Birds of Western Australia. Perth : University Western Australia Press x (un-numbered) 481 pp.].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 623130 ♀ adult (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 5166), Lake Dundas, WA. - Barnardius zonarius myrtae White, S.A. 1915. Scientific notes on an expedition into the north-western regions of South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 39: 707-842 [Mathews, G.M. 1920. Dates of ornithological works. Austral Avian Records 4: 1–27] [745] [holotype and paratype figured on pl. 1 in White, S.A. 1916. Central Australian Yellow-banded Parrot (Barnardius zonarius myrtae). Emu 16: 68].
Type data:
Holotype SAMA ♂ (ex S.A. White coll.), Horshoe Bend, Finke River, NT.
Paratype(s) SAMA ♀ (ex S.A. White coll.). - Barnardius zonarius woolundra Mathews, G.M. 1919. In Proceedings of meeting of British Ornithologists' Club, Nov. 12, 1919. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 40: 44-45 [44] [holotype identified with nominotypical B. z. zonarius (Shaw, 1805) by Cain, A.J. 1955. A revision of Trichoglossus haematodus and of the Australian platycercine parrots. Ibis 97: 432–479—it is from the range of nominotypical zonarius just east of its intergrade zone with B. z. semitorquatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) recorded by Serventy, D.L. & Whittell, H.M. 1976. Birds of Western Australia. Perth : University Western Australia Press x (un-numbered) 481 pp.].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 623132 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified), Woolundra (east of Kellerberrin), WA
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.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- 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. [142]
Distribution
States
Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Coastal and inland west and central Australia, west to the west coast between Jurien Bay and De Grey River—north to northern fringes of Pilbara (De Grey River), the southern fringes of the Great Sandy Desert, WA, and patchily through the Gibson and Tanami Deserts to Nicholson, the Gardiner Range and the south-western fringes of the Barkly Tableland (Newcastle Waters), NT—east to Elkedra River, Tarlton Range, Field River and western fringes of Simpson Desert, NT to western feeders of Lakes Eyre and Torrens and head of Spencer Gulf, SA—south to the south coast from and including Eyre Peninsula, SA to about Doubtful Bay, WA. Intergrades with B. z. semitorquatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) west of a front between Jurien Bay, Moora, Cunerdin-Kelleberin, Lake Grace and Doubtful Bay, SW WA, and with B. z. barnardi (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) through N Mt Lofty-Flinders Ranges, SA, north to the Frome River, south to Brinkworth and Eudunda, and east on east watersheds at least to Koonamore, Paratoo, and Sutherlands, SA, and psossibly far west NSW. Introduced in Dandenong Ranges, VIC (apparently established) and in region of Sydney (status uncertain).
IBRA
NT, SA, WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), 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), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), 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
- Northern Territory: Lake Eyre basin, W plateau
- South Australia: Lake Eyre basin, S Gulfs, W plateau
- Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau
Ecological Descriptors
Arboreal, diurnal, florivore, folivore, frugivorous, granivore, gregarious, low open woodland, low woodland, nomadic, resident, terrestrial, volant, woodland.
Extra Ecological Information
Seasonal breeder/opportunistic breeder, restricted to eucalypt-lined watercourses in arid parts of range, feeds mainly on seeds on ground and in trees (mostly eucalypts), flies in shallow undulations bringing wings in to side of body, 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 regionally to seasonal food sources.
General References
Brooker, M. 1973. Port Lincoln Parrots feeding on moth larvae. The Emu 73: 27-28 (diet)
Brooker, M. & Estbergs, A.J. 1976. A survey of terrestrial vertebrates in the Carnarvon region, West Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 13: 160-170 (movements)
Ford, J. & Parker, S.A. 1974. Distribution and taxonomy of some birds from south-western Queensland. The Emu 74: 177-194 (northern and eastern distribution)
Forshaw, J.M. 1981. Australian Parrots. 2nd (revised) Edn. Illustrated by W.T. Cooper. Melbourne : Lansdowne Edns 312 pp. 56 pls. (general biology, references)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | 01-Mar-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
12-Feb-2010 | (import) |
- Cyanoramphus Bonaparte, C.L. 1854. Tableau des perroquets. Revue et Magasin de Zoologie (Paris) 2 6: 145-158 [153] [published without description but based by reference on six nominal species, including Psittacus pacificus J.R. Forster, 1844, and available under ICZN Art. 12(b)(5); the unjustified emendation Cyanorhamphus Reichenow, 1881 is not listed here, being a junior objective synonym based on non-Australian type species].
Type species:
Psittacus pacificus J.R. Forster, 1844 by subsequent designation, see Gray, G.R. 1855. Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds contained in the British Museum. London : British Museum 192 pp. [86] (=Cyanoramphus zealandicus (Latham, 1790)). - Phippspsittacus McAllan, I.A.W. & Bruce, M.D. 1989. The Birds of New South Wales A Working List. Turramurra, New South Wales : Biocon Research Group vii 103 pp. [publication dated 1988, published May 1989] [45] [proposed without designation of type species but still available by indication under ICZN Art. 13(b); nomen sub-nudum, based essentially on 'a different bill morphology' in reference to Phipps, G. 1981. The Kakarikis. Australian Aviculture 35: 126–139, which specifies no comparative differences in bill].
Type species:
Platycercus cookii G.R. Gray, 1859 by monotypy.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- 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. [145] (based on Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp. [269])
Excluded Taxa
- Misidentifications
PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus auriceps (Kuhl, 1820) — Bonaparte, C.L. 1850. Conspectus Generum Avium. Tom. I. Lugduni, Batavorum : E.J. Brill 543 pp. [Date published 24 Jun 1850] [6] (=Geoffroyus g. geoffroyi (Bechstein, 1811))
PSITTACIDAE: Psittacus erythronotus (Kuhl, 1820)
Distribution
Extra Distribution Information
New Zealand, and Kermadec, Chatham, Antipodes and Auckland Ils, New Caledonia, and Society Is.
IMCRA
Lord Howe Province (14), Norfolk Island Province (21), Macquarie Island Province (24)
Other Regions
Lord Howe Island terrestrial & freshwater, Norfolk Island terrestrial & freshwater
Original AFD Distribution Data
Antarctic Region
- Macquarie Island (Aust. Terr.)
Australian Region
- Australia
- Lord Howe Island
- Norfolk Island
Distribution References
- Forshaw, J.M. 1978. Parrots of the World. 2nd (revised) Edn. Illustrated by W.T. Cooper. Melbourne : Lansdowne Edns 616 pp. 158 pls.
- Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp.
- Sibley, C.G. & Monroe, B.L., Jr 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. New Haven : Yale University Press xxiv 1111 pp.
General References
Holyoak, D.T. 1973. Comments on taxonomy and relationships in the parrot subfamilies Nestorinae, Loriinae and Platycercinae. The Emu 73: 157-176 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
McAllan, I.A.W. & Bruce, M.D. 1989. The Birds of New South Wales A Working List. Turramurra, New South Wales : Biocon Research Group vii 103 pp. [publication dated 1988, published May 1989] (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | AVES | 16-Mar-2025 | MODIFIED | |
29-Apr-2015 | Platycercini | 16-Mar-2025 | MODIFIED | |
10-Nov-2020 | 16-Mar-2025 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 16-Mar-2025 | MODIFIED | ||
16-Mar-2025 | MODIFIED |
- Platycercus cookii Gray, G.R. 1859. List of the Specimens of Birds in the Collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum 110 pp. Pt III Sect. II Psittacidae. [13] [as Cookii, and described as from New Zealand].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH ♂ adult (Old Vellum Cat. 22. 30a , ex W. Bullock Museum), Norfolk Is.(as New Zealand)
Comment: for identification of holotype and type locality, see 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 (585); 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. - Platycercus rayneri Gray, G.R. 1862. A list of the birds of New Zealand and the adjacent islands. Ibis 4(15): 214-252 [228].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 1859. 1.10.5 unsexed adult, Norfolk Is.
Comment: for identification of holotype, see 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 (585); 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. - Cyanoramphus magnirostris Forbes, H.O. & Robinson, H.C. 1897. Catalogue of the parrots (Psittaci) in the Derby Museum. Bulletin of the Liverpool Museum 1: 5-22 [21] [as Cyanorhamphus magnirostris].
Type data:
Holotype LIVCM D.631a, Norfolk Is. (as Tahiti)
Comment: for identity, details and type locality of holotype, see Sims, R.W. 1953. On the status of Cyanoramphus magnirostris Forbes and Robinson, Bull. Liverpool Mus. 1, p. 21, 1897: Tahiti, Society Islands. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 73: 104-105; Wagstaffe, R. 1978. Type Specimens of Birds in the Merseyside County Museums. Liverpool : Merseyside County Museums, Merseyside County Council 33 pp.
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
Introduction
Previously treated as a subspecies of C. novaezelandiae but raised to species by Boon et al. (2001). Although the genetic difference between C. cooki and C. novaezelandiae is significant, and equal to or greater than other interspecific differences in the genus, they are difficult to separate morphologically and treatment as a species not recognised by some authors, e.g. del Hoyo & Collar (2014). See Christidis & Boles (2008) for further discussion.
Distribution
Extra Distribution Information
Norfolk Island, Tasman Sea
Other Regions
Norfolk Island terrestrial & freshwater
Ecological Descriptors
Arboreal, closed forest, diurnal, florivore, frugivorous, granivore, gregarious, sedentary, volant.
Extra Ecological Information
Seasonal breeder, sexually dimorphic in size of bill, feeds arboreally on a variety of seeds, fruit and flowers, groups in pairs or small parties, flies directly with wing beats punctuated by gliding on down-swept wings, nests in high tree hollows, incubation by female, both sexes rear grey-white-downed, yellowish-billed chicks.
General References
Boon, W.M., Daugherty, C.H. & Chambers, G.K. 2001. The Norfolk Island Green Parrot and New Caledonian Red-crowned Parakeet are distinct species. Emu 101: 113-121
Forshaw, J.M. 1981. Australian Parrots. 2nd (revised) Edn. Illustrated by W.T. Cooper. Melbourne : Lansdowne Edns 312 pp. 56 pls. (general biology)
Common Name References
Stanger, M., Clayton, M., Schodde, R., Wombey, J. & Mason, I. 1998. CSIRO List of Australian Verebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing iii 124 pp. (Norfolk Island Parakeet)
History of changes
Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
10-Nov-2020 | AVES | 04-Nov-2022 | MODIFIED | |
10-Nov-2020 | 20-Aug-2013 | MODIFIED | ||
10-Nov-2020 | 28-Feb-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
22-Mar-2011 | MODIFIED |