Alisterus | |
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Male Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis) in Canberra, Australia | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Family: | Psittaculidae |
Tribe: | Polytelini |
Genus: | Alisterus Mathews, 1911 |
Species | |
Alisterus scapularis Contents |
Alisterus is a genus of medium-sized Australasian parrots, comprising the Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis), the Papuan king parrot (A. chloropterus) and the Moluccan king parrot (A. amboinensis). The three species are respectively found in eastern Australia, Papua, the Moluccas and other Indonesian islands. Predominantly of red and green plumage, the long-tailed parrots are related to the genera Aprosmictus and Polytelis .
Medium-sized parrots, 35–43 cm (14–17 in) in length with long, broad tails. They have relatively small beaks for their size. The beaks of the adults are two colours, blackish and orange-reddish, except for the subspecies of the Moluccan king parrot, Alisterus amboinensis buruensis, which has a grey-black beak, and female of the Australian species, Alisterus scapularis, which has a grey beak. [1]
The Papuan king parrot and the Australian king parrot show sexual dimorphism in their plumage and beak colouration, which contrast to the Moluccan king parrot, where the male and female have an identical external appearance. [1]
The two subspecies of the Australian king parrot are similar except in size. The male has a red head and neck, red lower parts, blue back and rump, and green wings, each with a pale-green band (resembling a shoulder stripe). In the female, the head is green, the green being continuous over the neck, chest, and back. Red plumage covers the lower abdomen, and the pale-green wing band is small or absent. Juvenile males also have a green neck and head. [1]
The three subspecies of the Papuan king parrot all show sexual dimorphism and in all three subspecies, the males can be identified by prominent broad pale-green bands on each wing. The differences in the females between subspecies are more marked than the differences in the males. The female of subspecies A. chloropterus moszkowskii has green wings, and a red head, neck, chest, and abdomen resembling the male, and differs from the male with its much smaller pale-green wing band. The females of A. chloropterus chloropterus and A. chloropterus calloterus differ from the males with broadly similar sexual dimorphism to the Australian king parrot with extended green plumage, except the chests of the females of these two Papuan king parrot subspecies have vague transverse green and red striations. [1]
The three species are forest-dwelling, and are found singly, in pairs, or in groups. [2] Australian king parrots sometimes gather in groups of 30 or more around food sources, while Moluccan king parrots sometimes form groups up to 10, and the Moluccan king parrots may gather in groups of five or six. [2] They generally feed on seeds, fruits, and berries in trees.
Classified in the subfamily Psittacinae within the true parrot family, the genus Alisterus was described by Australian amateur ornithologist Gregory Mathews in 1911. [3] Mathews coined the name for his four-year-old son Alister. [4] They were previously considered part of the genus Aprosmictus , which contains the red-winged parrot (Aprosmictus erythropterus) and olive-shouldered parrot (A. jonquillaceus).
The king parrots appear to be most closely related to the genera Aprosmictus and the long-tailed parrots of the genus Polytelis , united by similarities in food begging and contact calls by chicks, and by more recent molecular analysis in 2005. [5] The molecular work placed this group in turn as sister to a group containing Eclectus , Tanygnathus , and Psittacula .
The three species and several subspecies of king parrots are: [6]
Species | |||
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Common and binomial names [6] | Image | Description | Range |
Moluccan king parrot (Alisterus amboinensis) | 35 cm (14 in) long. Male is similar to female in all six subspecies. Wings do not have a scapular band. Five subspecies have green wings and one subspecies has blue wings. Orange irises. Dark grey legs. [1] | Numerous islands and western New Guinea of Indonesia. [1] | |
Papuan king parrot (Alisterus chloropterus) | 36 cm (14 in) long. Three subspecies all showing sexual dimorphism. The differences in the females between subspecies are more marked than the differences in the males. The pale green band on wing is much more marked in the males. Orange irises. Dark grey legs. [1] | New Guinea [1] | |
Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis) | 43 cm (17 in) long. Male is mainly red and green and the female is mainly green. A band of pale green feathers on each wing is prominent in the male and small or absent in the female. Blue back and rump. Yellow irises. Grey legs. Its two subspecies are similar except in size, the northern subspecies being the smaller. [1] | Eastern Australia [1] |
The yellow-tailed black cockatoo is a large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia measuring 55–65 cm (22–26 in) in length. It has a short crest on the top of its head. Its plumage is mostly brownish black and it has prominent yellow cheek patches and a yellow tail band. The body feathers are edged with yellow giving a scalloped appearance. The adult male has a black beak and pinkish-red eye-rings, and the female has a bone-coloured beak and grey eye-rings. In flight, yellow-tailed black cockatoos flap deeply and slowly, with a peculiar heavy fluid motion. Their loud, wailing calls carry for long distances. The yellow-tailed black cockatoo is found in temperate forests and forested areas across south and central eastern Queensland to southeastern South Australia, including a very small population persisting in the Eyre Peninsula. Two subspecies are recognised, although Tasmanian and southern mainland populations of the southern subspecies xanthanotus may be distinct enough from each other to bring the total to three. Birds of subspecies funereus have longer wings and tails and darker plumage overall, while those of xanthanotus have more prominent scalloping. The subspecies whiteae is found south of Victoria to the East of South Australia and is smaller in size.
The Moluccan eclectus is a parrot native to the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimorphism of the colours of the plumage; the male having a mostly bright emerald green plumage and the female a mostly bright red and purple/blue plumage. Joseph Forshaw, in his book Parrots of the World, noted that the first European ornithologists to see eclectus parrots thought they were of two distinct species. Large populations of this parrot remain, and they are sometimes considered pests for eating fruit off trees. Some populations restricted to relatively small islands are comparably rare. Their bright feathers are also used by native tribespeople in New Guinea as decorations.
Eclectus is a genus of parrot, the Psittaciformes, which consists of four known extant species known as eclectus parrots and the extinct Eclectus infectus, the oceanic eclectus parrot. The extant eclectus parrots are medium-sized parrots native to regions of Oceania, particularly New Guinea and Australia. Males are mostly bright green, females are predominantly bright red. The male and female eclectus were once thought to be different species. The conservation status of the remaining species is least concern. Eclectus parrots do well in captivity, and are a very popular pet across the world.
The colourful princess parrot is an Australian bird of the parrot family. Its name was given in honour of Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who in 1863 married the Prince of Wales Edward VII and eventually became Queen of the United Kingdom. Other names for the species include: Queen Alexandra parrot, Alexandra's parakeet, Princess of Wales parakeet, rose-throated parakeet, and spinifex parrot. Their plumage is mostly green with a pink throat, bluish crown and rump, and bright green shoulders.
The red-capped parrot is a species of broad-tailed parrot native to southwestern Australia. It was described by Heinrich Kuhl in 1820, with no subspecies recognised. It has long been classified in its own genus owing to its distinctive elongated beak, though genetic analysis shows that it lies within the lineage of the Psephotellus parrots and that its closest relative is the mulga parrot. Not easily confused with other parrot species, it has a bright crimson crown, green-yellow cheeks, and a distinctive long bill. The wings, back, and long tail are dark green, and the underparts are purple-blue. The adult female is very similar though sometimes slightly duller than the male; her key distinguishing feature is a white stripe on the wing under-surface. Juveniles are predominantly green.
The Australian king parrot is a species of parrot endemic to eastern Australia ranging from Cooktown in Queensland to Port Campbell in Victoria. Found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion of the continent, including eucalyptus wooded areas in and directly adjacent to subtropical and temperate rainforest. They feed on fruits and seeds gathered from trees or on the ground.
The regent parrot or rock pebbler is a bird found in southern Australia. It has predominantly yellow plumage with a green tail. The bird is found primarily in eucalyptus groves and other wooded areas of subtropical southwestern Australia, as well as in a smaller area of subtropical and temperate southeastern Australia. Seeds make up the bulk of its diet.
Baudin's black cockatoo, also known as Baudin's cockatoo or the long-billed black cockatoo, is a species of genus Zanda found in southwest Australia. The epithet commemorates the French explorer Nicolas Baudin. It has a short crest on the top of its head, and the plumage is mostly greyish black. It has prominent white cheek patches and a white tail band. The body feathers are edged with white giving a scalloped appearance. Adult males have a dark grey beak and pink eye-rings. Adult females have a bone coloured beak, grey eye-rings and ear patches that are paler than those of the males.
The superb parrot, also known as Barraband's parrot, Barraband's parakeet, or green leek parrot, is a parrot native to south-eastern Australia. It is a dimorphic species and one of three species in the genus Polytelis.
The red-winged parrot is a parrot native to Australia and New Guinea. It is found in grasslands, savannah, farmland, and woodland.
The Moluccan king parrot is a parrot endemic to Peleng Island, Maluku, and West Papua in Indonesia. It is sometimes referred to as the Ambon king parrot or Amboina king parrot, but this is potentially misleading, as it is found on numerous other islands than Ambon. The male and female are similar in appearance, with a predominantly red head and underparts, green wings, and blue back and tail. Six subspecies are recognised, but only a few of these are regular in aviculture. In the wild, it inhabits rainforests and feeds on fruits, berries, seeds and buds.
The green rosella or Tasmanian rosella is a species of parrot native to Tasmania and Bass Strait islands. It was described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, and named on the mistaken assumption it came from New Caledonia. At 14.5 in (37 cm) long it is the largest species of the rosella genus, Platycercus. Two subspecies are recognised. The green rosella's underparts, neck and head are yellow, with a red band above the beak and violet-blue cheeks. The back is mostly black and green, and its long tail blue and green. The sexes have similar plumage, except the female has duller yellow plumage and more prominent red markings, as well as a smaller beak. Juvenile and immature birds have predominantly green plumage.
Brehm's tiger parrot, also known as Brehm's ground parrot, is a small mainly green parrot found in the highlands of New Guinea, from 1,500-2,600m. The species is named after Alfred Brehm (1829–1884), a German traveller and collector.
The Papuan king parrot, also known as the green-winged king parrot, is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
The red-cheeked parrot is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the tip of northern Australia. There are 17 subspecies currently recognized. It is a stocky short-tailed parrot with predominantly green plumage. It exhibits sexual dimorphism; the adult male has red cheeks and a mauve nape and top of head, while the female is duller with a brown head.
The Polytelini tribe belongs to the parrot family Psittaculidae and consists of three genera.
The parrot subfamily Psittaculinae consists of three tribes: the Polytelini with three genera, the Psittaculini or Asian psittacines, and the pygmy parrots of the Micropsittini tribe.
King parrot may refer to:
The Papuan eclectus, red-sided eclectus, or New Guinea eclectus is a parrot species which is native to New Guinea. Larger than the Moluccan eclectus, the green plumage of the male only has a slight yellow tinge and the tail is tipped with a half-inch yellow band. The central tail feathers are green and lateral ones blue and green. It is widely distributed from Kai Islands and western islands of the West Papua province in the west, across the island of New Guinea to the Trobriands, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, and Louisiade Archipelago to the east. It has also been introduced to the Goram Islands, Indonesia.