Guadeloupe parakeet

Guadeloupe parakeet
Jean-Baptiste Labat's 1722 illustration of a Guadeloupe parakeet at the top right, with a Guadeloupe amazon to its left and a Lesser Antillean macaw below
Conservation status
Extinct  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification (disputed)
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Psittacidae
Genus:	Psittacara
Species:	†P. labati
Binomial name
†Psittacara labati (Rothschild, 1905)
Location of the Guadeloupe region

The Guadeloupe parakeet (Psittacara labati) is a hypothetical extinct species of parrot that is thought to have been endemic to the Lesser Antillean island region of Guadeloupe.

Taxonomy

They were later named Conurus labati, and are now called the Guadeloupe parakeet. It has been postulated to be a separate species based on little evidence. There are no specimens or remains of the extinct parrots. Their taxonomy may never be fully elucidated, and so their postulated status as a separate species is hypothetical. ^[2] It is presumed to have gone extinct in the late 18th century, if it did indeed exist.

Description

Hypothetical life restoration by John Gerrard Keulemans, 1907

Jean-Baptiste Labat described a population of small parrots living on Guadeloupe:

Those of Guadaloupe are about the size of a blackbird, entirely green, except a few small red feathers, which they have on their head. Their bill is white. They are very gentle, loving, and learn to speak easily. ^[3]

References

1. BirdLife International (2016). "Psittacara labati". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22728696A94993878. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728696A94993878.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. Fuller, Errol (1987). Extinct Birds. Penguin Books (England). p. 131. ISBN   0-670-81787-2.
3. Rothschild, Lionel Walter (1907). Extinct Birds: An Attempt to Unite in One Volume a Short Account of Those Birds which Have Become Extinct in Historical Times.