Subspecies Platycercus (Platycercus) caledonicus brownii (Kuhl, 1820)

• Psittacus brownii 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 [56] [as Brownii; also spelt browni in original description (p. 8)—brownii chosen here as correct original spelling under ICZN Art. 4(c); based on la Perruche à large queue, lève variété on pl. 80 in Levaillant, F. 1805. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Paris : Levrault, Schoell & Ce Vol. 2 112 pp. pls 72–139 [published between 1801–1805], and on many specimens examined at Linnean Society of London and 'in Museo Temminckiano, Parisiensi et Laugieriano'; only one of the original 14 specimens in the Linnean Society of London passed to BMNH, the remainder being untraced, 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 (546); 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); this specimen is selected here as lectotype so that brownii Kuhl, 1820 becomes a senior objective synonym of Psittacus flaviventris Temminck, 1821; type locality designated as Derwent, TAS, by Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 4 pp. 297–372 pls 300–307 [27 June 1917, volume dated as 1916–1917] (327), but lectotype, collected by Robert Brown on Matthew Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia, bears the collection date of 23 Apr. 1802 when Flinders landed on northeast King Is., Bass strait, see Flinders, M. 1814. A Voyage to Terra Australis. London : G. & W. Nicol Vol. 1 cciv 269 pp. (206)].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH 1863.7.6.4 unsexed adult (=♂) (ex Linnean Society of London coll.), northeast King Is., Bass Strait, TAS (as Nova Hollandia).
  Paralectotype(s) whereabouts unknown (?lost, ex Linnean Society of London coll.); RMNH (ex C.J. Temminck Cabinet); MNHP; MNHP (ex M. Laugier de Chartrouse coll.); RMNH (ex Temminck Cabinet); MNHP; MNHP (ex M Laugier de Chartrouse coll.).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Schodde, R. in Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. 1997. Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). In, Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia Vol. 37.2 xiii 440 pp. [173].

  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. [173].
• Psittacus flaviventris 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] [116] [junior objective synonym of Psittacus brownii Kuhl, 1820 (q.v.), being based on same material in BMNH, see Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 4 pp. 297–372 pls 300–307 [27 June 1917, volume dated as 1916–1917] (327) and 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.; also spelt flavigaster in original description, over which flaviventris was chosen by first reviser, 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] (281, footnote)—thus Psittacus flavigaster Temminck, 1821 is an incorrect original spelling to corrected, see ICZN Art. 32(a)(d) cf. 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 (545); also as incorrect subsequent spelling, flaviventur (in confusion with Platycercus elegans flaveolus Gould, 1837) by 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); for details of surviving syntype (=lectotype), see Psittacus brownii Kuhl, 1820 in 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.)—lectotypification effected under ICZN Art. 74; for source and fate of remainder of type series, see Psittacus brownii Kuhl, 1820, above].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH 1863.7.6.4 unsexed adult (=♂) (ex Linnean Society of London coll.), northeast King Is., Bass Strait (as Nouvelle Hollande).
  Paralectotype(s) whereabouts unknown (?lost, ex Linnean Society of London coll.).

  Subsequent designation references:

  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. [546].

  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. [173] (see under Psittacus brownii Kuhl, 1820; c.f. Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 4 pp. 297–372 pls 300–307 [27 June 1917, volume dated as 1916–1917] (327)).
• Platycercus xanthogaster Stephens, J.F. 1826. In, General Zoology or Systematic Natural History, commenced by the late George Shaw, M.D.F.R.S. & C. Aves. London : J. & A. Arch etc. Vol. XIV Pt I 385 pp. pls 1-41. [published late 1826] [120] [nom. nov. for Psittacus flavigaster= flaviventris Temminck, 1821, unjustified emendation].
• Platycercus caledonicus henriettae Mathews, G.M. 1915. Additions and corrections to my List of the Birds of Australia. Austral Avian Records 2: 123-133 [Date published 129] [127] [type material not specified precisely in protologue, and description based on more than one specimen according to data in 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; for identification of syntypes, see Greenway, J.C. 1978. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Pt 2. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 161: 1–306; syntype(s) illustrated on pl. 302 and described in detail on p. 323 in Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 4 pp. 297–372 pls 300–307 [27 June 1917, volume dated as 1916–1917]].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) AMNH 622758 ♂ imm. (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified), King Is., Bass Strait; AMNH 622759–622763 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. nos unspecified), King Is., Bass Strait; AMNH 622764–622766 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. nos unspecified), King Is., Bass Strait.

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. [173]

Distribution

States

Tasmania

Extra Distribution Information

King Is., now restricted largely to Pegarah Forestry area.

IBRA

Tas: King (KIN)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, florivore, folivore, frugivorous, granivore, gregarious, low shrubland, low woodland, open forest, sedentary, tall forest, terrestrial, volant.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, feeds arboreally and on ground mainly on seeds (Eucalyptus) in wooded habitats, flocks in small to medium-sized groups or pairs, flies in shallow undulations bringing wings in to side of body, sedentary.

General References

Green, R.H. & McGarvie, A.M. 1971. The birds of King Island. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston 40: 1-42 (status, diet)

History of changes