Taxonomic Decision for Subspecies Arrangement

• Schodde, R. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44-47

Distribution

States

New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Carnarvon (CAR), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Esperance Plains (ESP), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), 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), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), 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), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Victorian Midlands (VM), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin
  • South Australia: Murray-Darling basin
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

General References

Condon, H.T. 1951. Notes on the birds of South Australia: occurrence, distribution and taxonomy. South Australian Ornithologist 20: 26-68 (subspecific arrangement)

Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp. (subspecific arrangement)

Forshaw, J.M. 1978. Parrots of the World. 2nd (revised) Edn. Illustrated by W.T. Cooper. Melbourne : Lansdowne Edns 616 pp. 158 pls. (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. (subspecific arrangement, with contrary commentary)

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. (subspecific 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 rejecting subspecies)

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. (subspecific arrangement and specific limits)

History of changes

• Palaeornis anthopeplus 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. [Pl. 8, Pt VIII, published Oct. 1831, publication dated as 1830–1832] [pl. 29] [published without description or locality but in association with a coloured illustration (female) and available under ICZN Art. 12(b)(7); type locality accepted conventionally as 'New South Wales', see 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, Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp., Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia Pt 1 Non-passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp., but this presumption is not consistent with either Australian exploration at the time or the form of the specimen illustrated in the protologue, see Schodde, R. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44–47; original material, probably ex Zoological Society of London coll., was not passed to BMNH and is evidently lost, 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 (480); 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. (514–515); 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:

   Neotype WAM A7095 ♀, Bolgart, c. 40 km north of Toodyay, south WA (published without locality).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Schodde, R. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44-47.

  Type locality references:

  Schodde, R. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44-47 (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.]; Peters, J.L. 1937. Check-list of Birds of the World. Cambridge : Harvard University Press Vol. 3 xiii 311 pp.; Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia Pt 1 Non-passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp.).
• Palaeornis melanura Lear, E. 1832. 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 XII, published 1832, publication dated as 1830–1832] [pl. 28] [published without description or locality but in association with a coloured illustration (male) and available under ICZN Art. 12(b) (7); type locality accepted conventionally as 'New South Wales', see 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., but this presumption is not consistent with either Australian exploration at the time or the form of the specimen illustrated in the protologue, see Schodde, R. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44–47; original material, ex B. & J. Leadbeater coll., not passed to BMNH and evidently lost, 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 (480); 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:

   Neotype WAM A7095 ♀, Bolgart, c. 40 km north of Toodyay, south WA (published without locality).

  Subsequent designation references:

  Schodde, R. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44-47.

  Type locality references:

  Schodde, R. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44-47 (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.]; Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia Pt 1 Non-passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp.).
• Polytelis anthopeplus westralis 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] [holotype inferred but not specified in protologue; the female illustrated on pl. 296 and described in detail on p. 267 in Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 3 pp. 217–296 pls 291–299 [17 Apr. 1917, volume dated as 1916–1917] is evidently one of syntypes, having been collected in Jan. 1912, before the description of this form].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) AMNH 621639 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll.), Broome Hill, WA (as West Australia); AMNH 621640 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll.), Broome Hill, WA (as West Australia); AMNH 621641 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll.), Broome Hill, WA (as West Australia)
  Comment: for identification of syntypes and type locality, 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. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44-47 [45]

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Mallee sand plains and wheat belt, WA, north to Ajana, east to Lake Moore and Kalgoorlie, south-east to region of Balladonia, south to Israelite Bay, Esperance, and Albany, and west to west coast north from Geographe Bay to Greenough-Irwin Rivers, avoiding heavier forests of extreme south-west—erratically reaches Murchison River, Wanjarri, Laverton and Leonora.

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Carnarvon (CAR), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Esperance Plains (ESP), Gascoyne (GAS), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murchison (MUR), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Western Australia: NW coastal, SW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

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

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, sexually dimorphic, feeds arboreally and on ground on seeds, fruit and blossom, flocks in small to large groups, flies directly with swift even wing beats, nests on bed of wood dust/debris in tree hollows, incubation by female, both sexes rear whitish-downed, dull orange-yellow-billed chicks, wanders regionally to seasonal food sources.

History of changes

• Polytelis anthopeplus monarchoides Schodde, R. 1993. Geographic forms of the Regent Parrot, Polytelis anthopeplus (Lear), and their type localities. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 113: 44-47 [46].

  Type data:

   Holotype ANWC 42432 ♂ adult, Kingston, 12 km W of Barmera, SA.
  Paratype(s) AM O.17892 ♂ adult; ANWC 42433 ♂ adult; NMV B.18436 ♂ adult; SAMA B.46511 ♂ adult; ANWC 14821 ♀.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

Restricted to Murray River system and fringing mallee, east to Balranald and Swan Hill (formerly erratically to beyond Echuca)—south to Wyperfeld and formerly Dimboola in Wimmera, VIC, and Bordertown, SA—west to Karoonda and Waikerie, SA (formerly Coombe, Murray Bridge, and Sutherlands)—north to Gluepot and Canopus, SA, and Pooncarie-Arumpo, NSW—missing from Murray River in centre of range from region of Mildura west towards Lake Victoria where mallee distant from river—early records from 'north-west' of Adelaide in Gould, J. 1865. Handbook to the Birds of Australia. London : J. Gould 2 629 pp. [For publication date Mathews, G.M. 1925. The Birds of Australia. Supplements 4 & 5. Bibliography of the Birds of Australia Pts 1 & 2. London : H.F. & G. Witherby viii 149 pp.] [34] are unverified.

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

Distribution References

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, florivore, folivore, frugivorous, granivore, gregarious, low open woodland, low woodland, migratory, nomadic, terrestrial, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, sexually dimorphic, feeds arboreally and on ground on seeds, fruit and blossom, flocks in small to moderate-sized groups, flies directly with swift regular wing beats, nests on bed of wood dust/debris in tree hollows, incubation by female, both sexes rear whitish-downed, dull orange-yellow-billed chicks, wanders regionally to seasonal food sources, with a shift to river gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) to breed in spring-early summer, and a dispersal through outlying mallee in non-breeding months.

General References

Beardsell, C. 1985. The Regent Parrot. A report on the nest site survey in south-eastern Australia, September 1983 to January 1984. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service Report Series n. 1 28 pp. (breeding biology)

Burbidge, A. 1985. The Regent Parrot. A report on the breeding distribution and habitat requirements along the Murray River in south-eastern Australia. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service Report Series n. 4 xii 36 pp. (distribution, breeding habitat)

Joseph, L. 1978. Range and movements of the Regent Parrot in South Australia. South Australian Ornithologist 28: 26-27 (distribution, status, movement)

History of changes