Species Lathamus discolor (Shaw, 1790)

Museums

Museum list

Regional Maps

External Links

EPBC status

CAVS: 0309

Species Lathamus discolor (Shaw, 1790)

Swift Parrot

Psittacus discolor Shaw, G. in White, J. 1790. Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of Non descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, curious Cones of Trees and other Natural Productions. London : J. Debrett 299 pp. 65 pls. [published before Aug.] [263] [as Red shouldered Paroquet, Psittacus Discolor in Latin-English appendix of avian names and diagnoses, the authorship of which is assessed under Glossopsitta pusilla (Shaw, 1790), q.v.; presumed holotype figured on plate opposite p. 263 of original description; type material probably ex Leverian Museum, but 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:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost, figured on plate opposite p. 263 in White, J. 1790. Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales with Sixty-five Plates of Non descript Animals, Birds, Lizards, Serpents, curious Cones of Trees and other Natural Productions. London : J. Debrett 299 pp. 65 pls [published before Aug.]), region of Port Jackson, NSW (published without locality).
Type locality references:
Alexander, W.B. 1924. White's Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales. The Emu 23: 209-215 (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 sanguinolentus 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. [585] [based on the Red-shouldered Parrakeet on p. 269 and 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; probable objective synonym of Psittacus discolor Shaw, 1790 (q.v.): Governor Arthur Phillip and his Surgeon-General, John White, were associated at the founding colony of Port Jackson, used similar vernacular names for this species, and had access to the same specimen material].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown (?lost, figured on plate opposite p. 269 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. (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 lathami Bechstein, J.M. 1811. Kurze Uebersicht aller bekannten Vögel: oder ihre Kennzeichen der Art nach Lathams General Synopsis of Birds und seinem Index ornithologicus. Nürnberg : A.G. Schneider & Weigel iv 536 pp. 42 pls. [81] [Pt 1, 1811, iv 320 pp.; junior homonym of Psittacus lathami Temminck, 1807 (=Calyptorhynchus lathami (Temminck, 1807)); based wholly or in part on la Perruche Latham on p. 123 and pl. 62 in Levaillant, F. 1805. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Paris : Levrault, Schoell & Ce Vol. 1 135 pp. pls 1–71 [published between 1801–1805], itself based by indirect reference partly on Psittacus discolor Shaw, 1790 and Psittacus sanguinolentus Kerr, 1792, together].
Type data:

Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (?including MNHP, figured on pl. 8 in Bechstein, J.M. 1811. Kurze Uebersicht aller bekannten Vögel oder ihre Kennzeichen der Art nach Lathams General Synopsis of Birds und seinem Index ornithologicus. Nürnberg : A.G. Schneider & Weigel iv 536 pp. 42 pls, figured on pl. 62 in Levaillant, F. 1805. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Paris : Levrault, Schoell & Ce Vol. 1 135 pp. pls 1–71 [published between 1801–1805]), New South Wales (as Inseln der Südsee); whereabouts unknown (type of Psittacus discolor Shaw, 1790, ?lost), New South Wales (as Inseln der Südsee); whereabouts unknown (type of Psittacus sanguinolentus Kerr, 1792, ?lost), New South Wales (as Inseln der Südsee).
Type locality references:
Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912].
Psittacus humeralis Bechstein, J.M. 1811. Kurze Uebersicht aller bekannten Vögel: oder ihre Kennzeichen der Art nach Lathams General Synopsis of Birds und seinem Index ornithologicus. Nürnberg : A.G. Schneider & Weigel iv 536 pp. 42 pls. [85] [Pt 1, 1811, iv 320 pp.; based wholly or in part on la Perruche Banks on p. 103 and pl. 50 in Levaillant, F. 1805. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Paris : Levrault, Schoell & Ce Vol. 1 135 pp. pls 1–71 [published between 1801–1805], itself probably based on material collected by the Baudin expedition in southeast Tasmania (Huon Valley) in Jan.-Feb. 1802 where its journals mention green parrots with red wings, see Whittell, H.M. 1954. The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and Bibliography of Australian Ornithology. Perth : Paterson Brokensha xi 116 788 pp. (64) and Psittacus banksianus Vieillot, 1818, below].
Type data:
Syntype(s) MNHP (institution uncertain, figured on pl. 12 in Bechstein, J.M. 1811. Kurze Uebersicht aller bekannten Vögel oder ihre Kennzeichen der Art nach Lathams General Synopsis of Birds und seinem Index ornithologicus. Nürnberg : A.G. Schneider & Weigel iv 536 pp. 42 pls and on pl. 50 in Cayley, N.W. 1931. What Bird is That? A Guide to the Birds of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xix 315 pp. XXXVI pls), southeast Tasmania (Huon Valley) (as Inseln der Südsee).
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. [149] (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 banksianus Vieillot, L.P. 1818. Perroquets ou Psittacins. pp. 292–382 in, Nouveau Dictionaire d'Histoire Naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'Agriculture, à l'Écomomie rurale et domestique, à la Médecine, etc. Par une société de naturalistes et d'agriculteurs. Nouvelle Édition. Paris : Déterville. [publication dated as 1817] [342] [junior objective synonym of Psittacus humeralis Bechstein, 1811 (q.v.), based wholly or in part on la Perruche Banks on p. 103 and pl. 50 in Levaillant, F. 1805. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Paris : Levrault, Schoell & Ce Vol. 1 135 pp. pls 1–71 [published between 1801–1805]; type material probably collected by the Baudin expedition in southeast Tasmania in early 1802—its collections were seen by Levaillant and later worked over by Vieillot for his articles on birds in the Nouveau Dictionnaire, see Stresemann, E. 1951. Type localities of Australian birds collected by the 'Expedition Baudin' (1801–1803). Emu 51: 65–70].
Type data:
Syntype(s) MNHP (institution uncertain, figured on pl. 50 in Levaillant, F. 1805. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Paris : Levrault, Schoell & Ce Vol. 1 135 pp. pls 1–71 [published between 1801–1805] and on pl. 12 of original description of Psittacus humeralis Bechstein, 1811, q.v.), southeast Tasmania (Huon Valley) (as les terres australes).
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. [149] (cf. Psittacus humeralis Bechstein, 1811; 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.]).
Secondary source:
Stresemann, E. 1951. Type localities of Australian birds collected by the 'Expedition Baudin' (1801–1803). The Emu 51: 65-70.
Psittacus australis 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 [48] [ex R. Brown ms, junior homonym of Psittacus australis Gmelin, 1788 (=Vini australis (Gmelin, 1788)), nec Psittacus australis Latham, 1790 (=Glossopsitta concinna (Shaw 1791)), nec Psittacus australis Shaw, 1792 (=Nestor meridionalis (Gmelin 1788)); contra 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. and Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia Pt 1 Non-passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp., 'Trichoglossus australis Stephens, 1826' is not a nom. nov. but a new binominal combination based by reference on Psittacus australis Kuhl, 1820; holotype formerly in Linnean Society of London collection, see original description and 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], but not recorded as transferred to BMNH by 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 (594); 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. (414–415c); or 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:
Holotype BMNH lost ♂ (institution uncertain, ex Linnean Society of London coll.), banks of Derwent River, TAS (published without locality).
Type locality references:
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 [Date published 17 Feb 1827: publication dated 1826] [276] (cf. Mathews, G.M. 1917. The Birds of Australia. London : Witherby & Co. Vol. 6 pt 6 pp. 445–516 + xix pls 317–324 [11 Dec. 1917]).
Secondary source:
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 [Date published 17 Feb 1827: publication dated 1826]; 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.; 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.; 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.; 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.; Condon, H.T. 1975. Checklist of the Birds of Australia. Part 1 Non-Passerines. Melbourne : Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union xx 311 pp.
Lathamus rubrifrons Lesson, R.P. 1830. Traité d'Ornithologie, ou Tableau Méthodique des ordres, sous-ordres, familles, tribus, genres, sous-genres et races d'oiseaux. Paris : F.G. Levrault Vol. 1 xxxii 659 pp., Vol. 2 (Atlas) xii 119. [Date published July 1830: Livr. 3, July 1830, dated 1831; Livr. 6 published 1831] [205] [livr. 3; based directly and indirectly on Psittacus discolor Shaw, 1790, Psittacus sanguinolentus Kerr, 1792, Psittacus lathami Bechstein, 1811 (by reference, inter alia, to la Perruche Latham on pl. 62 in Levaillant, F. 1805. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Paris : Levrault, Schoell & Ce Vol. 1 135 pp. pls 1–71 [published between 1801–1805]), and the Red-shouldered Parakeet on pl. 62 in Swainson, W. 1821. Zoological Illustrations; or Original Figures and Descriptions of new, rare, or interesting Animals, selected chiefly from the classes of Ornithology, Entomology, and Conchology, and arranged on the principles of Cuvier and other modern zoologists. London : Baldwin, Cradock & Joy Vol. 1 ix 75 pp. pls 1–66 [publication dated 1820–1821]; specification of type locality by Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171–455 [publication dated Jan. 1912, published 31 Jan.] is appropriate because of syntypes].
Type data:

Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (type of Psittacus discolor Shaw, 1790, q.v.), New South Wales (as Nouvelle-Hollande); whereabouts unknown (type of Psittacus sanguinolentus Kerr, 1792, q.v), New South Wales (as Nouvelle-Hollande); whereabouts unknown (type of Psittacus lathami Bechstein, 1811, q.v.), New South Wales (as Nouvelle-Hollande); UMZC ♂, New South Wales (as Nouvelle-Hollande).
Type locality references:
Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912].
Secondary source:
Levaillant, F. 1805. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Paris : Levrault, Schoell & Ce Vol. 1 135 pp. pls 1-71. [published between 1801–1805]; Swainson, W. 1821. Zoological Illustrations; or Original Figures and Descriptions of new, rare, or interesting Animals, selected chiefly from the classes of Ornithology, Entomology, and Conchology, and arranged on the principles of Cuvier and other modern zoologists. London : Baldwin, Cradock & Joy Vol. 1 ix 75 pp. pls 1-66. [publication dated 1820–1821]; Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912].
Lathamus discolor tregellasi Mathews, G.M. 1912. A Reference-List to the Birds of Australia. Novitates Zoologicae 18: 171-455 [Date published 31 Jan 1912] [279].
Type data:
Holotype AMNH 619018 ♀ (G.M. Mathews' coll. no. 8537), Mulgrave, 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.; 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.
Lathamus discolor gmelini Mathews, G.M. 1923. In Proceedings of meeting of British Ornithologists' Club, Oct. 10, 1923. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 44: 15 [15] [nom. nov. for Psittacus australis Kuhl, 1820, preoccupied (q.v.)].

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. [191]

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

TAS (breeding almost exclusively in east and midlands), Bass Strait islands on passage, and south-east mainland out-of-breeding east along coast and both watersheds of Great Dividing Range irregularly as far north as about the Tropic of Capricorn (exceptionally farther) and Darling Downs (Chinchilla, Texas), QLD, central Barwon and Riverina regions, NSW, and N Murray Mallee, VIC, and west irregularly to SE of SA and formerly regularly, now erratically, north through Ninety-mile Desert and central Murray Mallee to Mt Lofty Range as far as about Sutherlands-Clare, SA—principal non-breeding range centred in east coastal and central VIC (Gippsland Plains, Western Uplands, Northern Goldfields, Northern Plains).

IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), 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), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), 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), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, diurnal, florivore, frugivorous, gregarious, low woodland, mellivore, migratory, open forest, tall forest, volant, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Seasonal breeder, in eucalypt woodlands and forests, feeds primarily in tree canopy on nectar from flowering eucalypts, flies swiftly and directly on consistently beating wings, nests on bed of wood dust/debris in tree hollows, incubation by female, both sexes rear pale grey-downed, yellowish-billed chicks, migrates south to breeding grounds in Sept.-Nov. and north to non-breeding grounds in Mar.-Apr.