Subspecies Platycercus (Platycercus) elegans elegans (Gmelin, 1788)

CAVS: 8893

Psittacus elegans Gmelin, J.F. 1788. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Linné, editio decima tertia, aucta, reformata. Regnum Animalium. Leipzig (Lipsiae) : G.E. Beer Vol. 1(1) 1-500 pp. [For publication date Duncan, F.M. 1937. On the dates of publication of the Society's 'Proceedings', 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of 'Proceedings', 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the 'Transactions', 1833–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107: 71–84] [318] [not preoccupied by Psittacus elegans Clusius, before 1758 and pre-binominal; validated as correct name with above authorship and place of publication by International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature Direction 43; based on adult and immature of the Beautiful Lory in Latham, J. 1782. A General Synopsis of Birds. London : B. White Vol. 1 vi 788 pp. I–XXXV pls [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.] (217), in turn described from material in the collection of Joseph Banks taken on James Cook's first voyage to Australasia; as the only land fall made by Cook's expedition in the range of this species was Botany Bay, where both 'loryquets and parrots' were recorded, that site is ipso facto the type locality, see Whittell, H.M. 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and Bibliography of Australian Ornithology. Perth : Paterson Brokensha xi 116 788 pp. (13); for dispersal and fate of Banksian material, 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. (172–173); Whitehead, P.J.P. 1969. Zoological specimens from Captain Cook's voyages. Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 5: 161–201 [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. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp.]].
Type data:
Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (dispersed and ?lost), Botany Bay, NSW (published without locality).
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. [174] (cf. Latham, J. 1782. A General Synopsis of Birds. London : B. White Vol. 1 vi 788 pp. I–XXXV pls [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.]).
Psittacus pennantii Latham, J. 1790. Index ornithologicus, sive Systema Ornithologiae; complectens avium divisionem in classes, ordines, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates: adjectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, &c. London : Leigh & Sotheby Vol. 1 & 2 xviii 920 pp. [90] [as Pennantii; based on the Pennantian Parrot in Latham, J. 1787. Supplement to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh & Sotheby iii 298 pp. pls CVII–CXIX [Sclater, P.L. 1893. List of the dates of delivery of the sheets of the "Proceedings" of the Zoological Society of London, from the commencement in 1830 to 1859 inclusive. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1893: 435–440] (61), from material in the possession of Thomas Pennant—and, as var. ß, on the Pennantian Parrot described on p. 154 and figured on plate opposite in Phillip, A. 1789. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island compiled from authentic papers. London : J. Stockdale viii x 298 lxxiv pp. 54 pls; as Pennant almost certainly got his specimen(s) from Joseph Banks, it is likely that Psittacus pennantii Latham, 1790 and P. elegans Gmelin, 1788 are based in part on the same material and so potentially objective synonyms; for dispersal and fate of Banksian material, see Psittacus elegans Gmelin, 1788 (op. cit.)].
Type data:

Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown unsexed adult (dispersed and ?lost), Botany Bay and Port Jackson, NSW (as nova Wallia australi); whereabouts unknown unsexed imm. (?lost, ex Joseph Banks coll. per T. Pennant), Botany Bay and Port Jackson, NSW (as nova Wallia australi); whereabouts unknown (?lost, ex Leverian Museum per A. Phillip?, figured on plate opposite p. 154 inPhillip, A. 1789. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island compiled from authentic papers. London : J. Stockdale viii x 298 lxxiv pp. 54 pls), Botany Bay and Port Jackson, NSW (as nova Wallia australi).
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. [174] (for reasons given under Psittacus elegans Gmelin, 1788 (q.v.), and in Phillip, A. 1789. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island compiled from authentic papers. London : J. Stockdale viii x 298 lxxiv pp. 54 pls [154]; 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.]).
Psittacus gloriosus Shaw, G. in Shaw, G. & Nodder, F.P. (ill.) 1791. The Naturalist's Miscellany; or coloured figures of natural objects drawn and described immediately from nature. London : Nodder Vol. II pls 38-74. [publication dated as 1790-1791] [text to pl. 53] [plate 53 of original description dated Jan. 1791; based in part on the Pennantian Parrot in Latham, J. 1787. Supplement to the General Synopsis of Birds. London : Leigh & Sotheby iii 298 pp. pls CVII–CXIX [Sclater, P.L. 1893. List of the dates of delivery of the sheets of the "Proceedings" of the Zoological Society of London, from the commencement in 1830 to 1859 inclusive. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1893: 435–440] (61); other type material formerly in Leverian Museum dispersed and not traced in museums receiving its collections, see von Pelzeln, A. 1873. On the birds in the Imperial Collection at Vienna obtained from the Leverian Museum. Ibis 3 3: 14–54; Von Pelzeln, A. 1873. On the birds in the Imperial Collection at Vienna obtained from the Leverian Museum. Part II. Ibis 3 3: 105–124; Wagstaffe, R. 1978. Type Specimens of Birds in the Merseyside County Museums. Liverpool : Merseyside County Museums, Merseyside County Council 33 pp.; cf. Whittell, H.M. 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and Bibliography of Australian Ornithology. Perth : Paterson Brokensha xi 116 788 pp. (439–440)].
Type data:
Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (dispersed and ?lost, ex Leverian Museum, those of Psittacus pennantii Latham, 1790 (q.v.) figured on pl. 53 in Shaw, G. & Nodder, F.P. (ill.) 1791. The Naturalist's Miscellany; or coloured figures of natural objects drawn and described immediately from nature. London : Nodder Vol. III pls 75–110 pp., figured on plate opposite p. 27 in Shaw, G. 1796. Museum Leverianum, containing select specimens from the Museum of the late Sir Ashton Lever, Kt. with descriptions in Latin and English. London : J. Parkinson 248 + 48 pp. [publication dated as 1792-1796, Pt 5 published Feb. 1793]), region of Port Jackson and Botany Bay, NSW (as Nova Hollandia/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. [175] (for reasons given under Psittacus pennantii Latham, 1790 and Psittacus elegans Gmelin, 1788 (q.v.)).
Psittacus splendidus Shaw, G. & Nodder, F.P. 1792. The Naturalist's Miscellany, or coloured figures of natural objects; drawn and described from nature. London Vol. 3 pls 88–110, unnumbered pages. [nom. nov. for Psittacus gloriosus Shaw, 1791, by reference to the Splendid Parrot on pl. 53 in Shaw, G. In Shaw, G. & Nodder, F.P. (ill.) 1791. The Naturalist's Miscellany; or coloured figures of natural objects drawn and described immediately from nature. London : Nodder Vol. II pls 38–74 pp. [publication dated as 1790-1791] (plate 53 of original description dated Jan. 1791)].
Psittacus elegans viridis Kerr, R. 1792. The Animal Kingdom, or Zoological System, of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnaeus; being a translation of that part of the Systema Naturae, as lately published, with great improvements, by Professor Gmelin of Goettingen. Class II. Birds. London : J. Murray & R. Faulder xii 644 pp. [567] [junior homonym of Psittacus viridis Meuschen, 1787 (=Amazona farinosa (Boddaert, 1783)), cf. Mathews, G.M. 1926. Another new book, which necessitates changes in nomenclature. Austral Avian Records 5: 81–100; nec Psittacus viridis Latham, 1790 (=Eclectus roratus (P.L.S. Müller, 1776)); based by reference largely on variety ß of Psittacus pennantii Latham, 1790 in Latham, J. 1790. Index ornithologicus, sive Systema Ornithologiae; complectens avium divisionem in classes, ordines, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates: adjectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, &c. London : Leigh & Sotheby Vol. 1 & 2 xviii 920 pp. [published Dec. Mathews, G.M. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp. 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.] (90), error (=variety alpha), an immature of the Beautiful Lory in Latham, J. 1782. A General Synopsis of Birds. London : B. White Vol. 1 vi 788 pp. I–XXXV pls [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.]; for source material of Latham's Beautiful Lory, see Psittacus elegans Gmelin, 1788 (above); name misspelt, as incorrect subsequent spelling, viridus by Wells, R.W. & Wellington, R. 1992. A classification of the cockatoos and parrots (Aves: Psittaciformes) of Australia. Sydney Basin Naturalist 1: 107–169 [Zimmer, J.T. 1926. Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library. Field Museum of Natural History Publications, Zoological Series 16: 1–364 (Pt 1, Publ. 239), 365–706 (Pt 2, Publ. 240)]].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (dispersed and ?lost), Botany Bay, NSW (as Molucca islands).
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. [175].
Psittacus pennantii phillippi Kerr, R. 1792. The Animal Kingdom, or Zoological System, of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnaeus; being a translation of that part of the Systema Naturae, as lately published, with great improvements, by Professor Gmelin of Goettingen. Class II. Birds. London : J. Murray & R. Faulder xii 644 pp. [568] [as Ps. Pennantii Phillippi, after Governor Arthur Phillip—original spelling kept under ICZN Art. 31(a)(ii); based, through Psittacus pennantii var. ß in Latham, J. 1790. Index ornithologicus, sive Systema Ornithologiae; complectens avium divisionem in classes, ordines, genera, species, ipsarumque varietates: adjectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, &c. London : Leigh & Sotheby Vol. 1 & 2 xviii 920 pp. [published Dec. Mathews, G.M. 1927. Systema Avium Australasianarum. A systematic list of the birds of the Australasian region. London : British Ornithologists' Union Pt 1 iv 426 pp. 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.] (90), largely on the Pennantian Parrot on p. 154 and figure opposite in Phillip, A. 1789. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island compiled from authentic papers. London : J. Stockdale viii x 298 lxxiv pp. 54 pls].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost, ex Leverian Museum per A. Phillip? figured on plate opposite p. 154 in Phillip, A. 1789. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island compiled from authentic papers. London : J. Stockdale viii x 298 lxxiv pp. 54 pls), Port Jackson, NSW (as New South Wales).
Type locality references:
Phillip, A. 1789. The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson & Norfolk Island compiled from authentic papers. London : J. Stockdale viii x 298 lxxiv pp. 54 pls. [154].
Platycercus pennantii nobbsi Tristram, H.B. 1885. On two birds from Norfolk Island. Ibis 5 3: 48-49 [49] [as Platycercus pennanti var. nobbsi; also misspelt hobbsi by 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. (474); for status of form, 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 (543); described from progeny of birds introduced probably from region of Port Jackson, NSW, during the period of early penal settlements on Norfolk Island, 1788–early 1830s, see Schodde, R., Fullagar, P. & Hermes, N. 1983. A Review of Norfolk Island Birds: Past and Present. Canberra : Aust. Natl Parks Wldlf. Serv. Spec. Publ. 8 viii (un–numbered) 119 pp.].
Type data:

Syntype(s) BMNH 1898.12.2.200 unsexed adult, Norfolk Is., Tasman Sea; BMNH no. unspecified unsexed, Norfolk Is., Tasman Sea; LIVCM T.18310 ♂ (in ethanol), Norfolk Is., Tasman Sea; LIVCM T.10139 ♀ (in ethanol), Norfolk Is., Tasman Sea
Comment: for identification of syntypes, see Warren, R.L.M. 1966. Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 1 Non-Passerines. London : British Museum ix 320 pp.; Wagstaffe, R. 1978. Type Specimens of Birds in the Merseyside County Museums. Liverpool : Merseyside County Museums, Merseyside County Council 33 pp.
Platycercus elegans victoriae Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [270].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 622632 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 9375), Woori Yallock, VIC (as Victoria)
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:
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.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. [193]

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

E and W scarps of Great Dividing Range, north to Blackall Range and Amamoor-Cooran, QLD, with outlying populations on the Blackdown Tableland and Eungella plateau, Clarke Range, QLD—east to coast south of Manning River, NSW, rarely north to lower Clarence, lower Richmond and lower Tweed River valleys, NSW—south and south-west to S VIC and the South-East of SA as far as Frances, Keppoch and Kingston—inland to Bunya Mts, QLD, Nandewar, Warrumbungle and Warrumba Ranges, Young and Holbrook, NSW, and Strathbogie Ranges, Wedderburn and Grampians, VIC, occasionally wandering into eastern Riverina, NSW, where it intergrades locally with P. e. flaveolus Gould, 1837, in Murray-Murrumbidgee river drainages between Jugiong and Lake Hume-Wangaratta. Introduced to Norfolk Is. in early 19th century and now well established, also introduced unsuccessfully on Lord Howe Is.

Note that conversion of the original AFD map of states, drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones to IBRA and IMCRA regions may have produced errors. The new maps will be reviewed and corrected as updates occur. The maps may not indicate the entire distribution. See further details below.

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gawler (GAW), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

IMCRA

Norfolk Island Province (21)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

Australia
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
- Norfolk Island
- Queensland: NE coastal
- South Australia: Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal
- Victoria
New Zealand

Ecological Descriptors

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

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, feeds mainly on seeds both on ground and in trees (mostly Eucalyptus) in all closer woodlands and forests, 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, juveniles often banding together in flocks and travelling more widely than adults.