Subspecies Platycercus (Platycercus) elegans flaveolus Gould, 1838

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Regional Maps

• Platycercus flaveolus Gould, J. 1838. A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. London : J. Gould 8 pp., 73 pls. [Pt 3, published Apr. 1838, publication dated as 1837–1838] [text to pl. 23, fig. 1] [first read at meeting of Zoological Society of London, Feb. 28, 1837, but not published until Nov. 1837 in Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1837: 26, see 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, 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.]; Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pts 1–6 xix 516 pp. pls 275–324 [publication dated as 1916–1917]; Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246; published without reference to specimens or precise locality, but the introduction to Gould's (loc. cit.) concurrent account in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society (p. 24) indicates that he based this species on material in his own collection—at that time and in immediately succeeding years, Gould appears to have had only one specimen in his collection, from Sir Thomas Mitchell, see Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould 5 92 pls pp. [published Sept. 1841] (text to pl. 25): this specimen, evidently figured on plate 25 in the latter work, is therefore treated here as holotype, see also Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246 (citing incorrect plate no.); type locality assumed as 'Darling River or near it' by Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246, but the only specimens cited by Gould until then were those that he had seen from Mitchell in AM, including one from the lower Bogan River outside the known range, see Whittell, H.M. 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and Bibliography of Australian Ornithology. Perth : Paterson Brokensha xi 116 788 pp. (529)—thus the holotype could have come from anywhere along the middle Darling, Lachlan and Murray Rivers on either of Mitchell's explorations through western New South Wales in 1835 and 1836].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANSP 22847 ♂ (Verreaux cat. no. 272, figured on pl. 23 (head only) in Gould, J. 1838. A Synopsis of the Birds of Australia, and the Adjacent Islands. London : J. Gould 73 pls 8 pp. [publication dated 1837-1838, Pt 2, Jan. (=Apr.) 1837; Pt 4 published 1838 Schodde, R. 1989. The story behind the description in Canberra Bird Notes of new subspecies of birds. Canberra Bird Notes 14: 90–91] and pl. 25 in Gould, J. 1848. The Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould 5 92 pls pp. [published Sept. 1841]), middle Darling, Lachlan or Murray Rivers, NSW, (as New South Wales)
  Comment: for identification of holotype, see Stone, W. in Stone, W. & Mathews, G.M. 1913. A list of the species of Australian birds described by John Gould, with the location of the type-specimens. Austral Avian Records 1: 129–180; Meyer de Schauensee, R. 1957. On some avian types, principally Gould's, in the collection of the Academy. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 109: 123–246.
• Platycercus flaveolus innominatus Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [270] [holotype figured on pl. 301 and described in detail on pp. 317–318 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:

   Holotype AMNH 622751 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 1056), Mannum, SA (as South Australia)
  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. (as Mannam).

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. [193-194]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

Murray-Darling-Lachlan-Murrumbidgee River systems, downstream to about Mannum on Murray, SA, upstream to Menindee and occasionally Tilpa on Darling, Hillston on Lachlan, Tarcutta-Gundagai-Jugiong on Murrumbidgee, NSW, and Albury-Wangaratta on Murray-Ovens Rivers, VIC, rare and erratic further east along those systems to Peak Hill, Orange, Cowra, Yass and Canberra (?aviary escapees), NSW/ACT. Intergrades with P. e. elegans (Gmelin, 1788) around Tarcutta-Gundagai-Jugiong on Murrumbidgee drainage, and around Hume Dam and middle King-Ovens valley on Murray drainage, also intergrades with P. e. subadelaidae Mathews, 1912-P. e. fleurieuensis Ashby, 1917 complex along Marne River, SA, and in mallee lands to immediate north-west.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NSW, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Kanmantoo (KAN), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Victorian Midlands (VM)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin
  • South Australia: Murray-Darling basin
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin

Ecological Descriptors

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

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, restricted to river gum-box (Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. largiflorens) woodlands, feeds mainly on seeds arboreally (Eucalyptus) and on ground, often flocks in small groups (particularly immatures), 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

Boehm, E.F. 1959. Parrots and cockatoos of the Mount Mary Plains, South Australia. The Emu 59: 83-87 (intergradation with Mt Lofty Range complex of species)

Cole, C.F. 1919. Notes upon the food of the Yellow Parrot (Platycercus flaveolus). The Emu 18: 272-285 (diet)

Ford, J. 1977. Area of origin of the Yellow Rosella. The Emu 77: 229-230 (zoogeography)

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 (biosystematics, population genetics)

History of changes