Species Psephotellus chrysopterygius Gould, 1857

CAVS: 0300

Golden-shouldered Parrot

Psephotus chrysopterygius Gould, J. 1858. On several new species of birds from various parts of the world. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1857: 220-224 [publication dated 1857] [220] [prior publication in Gould, J. 1857. In Notice of meeting of Zoological Society of London, November 10, 1857. Literary Gazette, London 2130: 1100, as recorded by Bruce, M.D. & McAllan, I.A.W. 1990. Some problems in vertebrate nomenclature. II. Birds. Part 1. Bollettino del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali. Torino 8: 453–485, is rejected here because of application by Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature of the International Ornithological Committee to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature for its suppression in all prior usages to its publication in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, cited above; all three syntypes illustrated on pl. 64 in Gould, J. 1869. The Birds of Australia. Supplement. London : J. Gould 81 pls pp. [Pt 3, 1859], in which the female is apparently a missexed male].
Type data:

Syntype(s) BMNH 1857.9.18.51 ♂ adult, c. 30 km south of Normanton, and environs of Haydon c. 50 km southeast of Normanton, QLD (as 18ºS 141º30´E); BMNH no. unspecified ♀ =♂?, c. 30 km south of Normanton, and environs of Haydon c. 50 km southeast of Normanton, QLD (as 18ºS 141º30´E); BMNH no. unspecified imm., c. 30 km south of Normanton, and environs of Haydon c. 50 km southeast of Normanton, QLD (as 18ºS 141º30´E)
Comment: for identification of syntypes and their 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 (566); 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.; Macdonald, J.D. & Colston, P.R. 1966. J.R. Elsey and his bird observations on Gregory's overland expedition, Australia, 1856. Emu 65: 255–278.
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. [193] (from collector's details reported by Macdonald, J.D. & Colston, P.R. 1966. J.R. Elsey and his bird observations on Gregory's overland expedition, Australia, 1856. Emu 65: 255–278).
Psephotellus chrysopterygius nova Mathews, G.M. 1918. Additions and corrections to my 1913 list. Austral Avian Records 3: 159-160 [159] [holotype inferred but not specified in original description; type (=lectotype) nominated, illustrated on pl. 370, and described in detail on p. 431 in 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]; for details of collection, see Mathews (loc. cit.: 432); for identification of lectotype but misidentification of its status and collector (actually W.R. Maclennan), 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 data:
Lectotype AMNH 623438 ♂ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. unspecified), Watson River, west Cape York Peninsula, QLD.
Subsequent designation references:
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. [Date published 12 June 1919: publication dated as from preface, 12 June 1919 given in Appendix B] [431].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Condon, H.T. 1941. The Australian broadtailed parrots (subfamily Platycercinae). Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 7: 117-144 [143] (based on Le Soeuf, A.S. & Kinghorn, J.R. 1924. Notes on the Golden Shouldered and Hooded Parrots. Emu 24: 1–3)

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

South and central Cape York Peninsula, formerly north to lower Watson River and Silver Plains-Pascoe River (reports from Temple Bay need confirmation), east to Princess Charlotte Bay, Normanby River, and possibly coast north of Cooktown, south to upper Palmer, middle Lynd and Carron Rivers, and west to Gulf of Carpentaria—apparently now restricted largely to central-east sectors of former range.

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

Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

Australia
- Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, granivore, gregarious, low open woodland, nomadic, open forest, resident, terrestrial, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, sexually dimorphic, in well-grassed eucalypt and paperbark (Melaleuca) woodland and open forest with termitaria, feeds almost exclusively on grass seeds on or near the ground, groups in pairs or small flocks, flies in shallow undulations bringing wings in to side of body, nests on bed of earth in excavated burrows in termitaria, incubation by female, both sexes rear pale grey-downed, yellowish-billed chicks, wanders locally or regionally to seasonal food sources.