Moluccan king parrot | |
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Nominate subspecies at Brevard Zoo, Florida, USA | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Family: | Psittaculidae |
Genus: | Alisterus |
Species: | A. amboinensis |
Binomial name | |
Alisterus amboinensis (Linnaeus, 1766) | |
Synonyms | |
Psittacus amboinensisLinnaeus, 1766 |
The Moluccan king parrot (Alisterus amboinensis) 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, [2] 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 (blue in one subspecies), 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.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Moluccan king parrot in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected on the island of Ambon in Indonesia. He used the French name La perruche rouge d'Amboine and the Latin name Psittaca amboinensis coccinea. [3] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. [4] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. [4] One of these was the Moluccan king parrot. Linnaeus included a terse description, coined the binomial name Psittacus amboinensis and cited Brisson's work. [5] This species is now placed in the genus Alisterus which was introduced by the Australian amateur ornithologist Gregory Mathews in 1911. [6]
The Moluccan king parrot is one of three species collectively known as king parrots found in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. [7]
There are six subspecies: [8]
An adult Moluccan king parrot measures 35–40 cm (14 in) in length and has a red head and chest, outer wings dull green (except in subspecies A. a. hypophonius, which are blue), mantle, lesser wing coverts and tail-coverts dark purple-blue. [7] [10] Tail darker blackish blue, irises orange, and the legs are dark grey. [7] The lower mandible is blackish, and the upper mandible is orange-red with a blackish tip, except in the subspecies A. a. buruensis, where the entire bill is blackish. [7] Unlike the other species of king parrots, the Moluccan king parrot does not display sexual dimorphism; that is, the sexes have similar plumage. [7] Juvenile birds have a dark-brown bill tipped paler, greenish mantle, dark brown irises and red-tips to lateral tail feathers. [7] Birds reach maturity in one year. [10] [11]
Encountered alone or in pairs, occasionally in small groups, it mainly frequents dense cover in the lower and mid-levels of forests. [12] It is inconspicuous and rather quiet, except in flight. [12] It consumes fruit, berries, seeds and buds. [7] [11] Nesting takes place in a tree-hollow. [10] The breeding season begins in February and March, although breeding has not been observed in the wild, in captivity the clutch consists of two eggs which are incubated for 19 days. After hatching the chicks are ready to fledge at nine weeks old. [13]
The Moluccan king parrot inhabits rainforests, but sometimes enters nearby plantations and gardens. [10] Exceptionally, it occurs at altitude up to 2100 m, [10] but more commonly below 1200 m (New Guinea) [14] or 1600 m (Maluku). [12]
It is generally uncommon due to habitat loss and capture for the parrot trade, [10] but remains locally common at least on the Sula Islands, Halmahera, and Buru. [12] Overall, the species is not believed to be in immediate danger, and consequently is listed as least concern by BirdLife International and IUCN. [1] As most parrots, the Moluccan king parrot is listed in Appendix II of CITES.
Until recently, only the subspecies A. a. amboinensis and A. a. hypophonius were regularly seen in aviculture, but A. a. buruensis and A. a. dorsalis are now also present, at least in zoos. [15] [16] It has regularly been bred in captivity, [11] for example in Denmark. [17]
Amboyna or amboina may refer to:
Seram is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent islands, such as Saparua, Haruku, Nusa Laut and the Banda Islands.
The Senegal parrot is a parrot which is a resident breeder across a wide range of west Africa. It makes migrations within west Africa, according to the availability of the fruit, seeds and blossoms which make up its diet. It is considered a farm pest in Africa, often feeding on maize or millet. It is popular in aviculture.
The green imperial pigeon is a large forest pigeon. The large range extends from Nepal, southern India and Sri Lanka eastwards to southern China, Indonesia and the Philippines.
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.
The Amboyna cuckoo-dove is a dove in the genus Macropygia found in the Moluccas and New Guinea. It was one of three new species defined when the slender-billed cuckoo-dove was split up in 2016 and retains the Latin binomial of the former species.[1]
The brush cuckoo is a member of the cuckoo family.
The great-billed parrot also known as Moluccan parrot or island parrot, is a medium-sized, approximately 38 cm long, green parrot with a massive red bill, cream iris, blackish shoulders, olive green back, pale blue rump and yellowish green underparts. The female is typically smaller than the male, but otherwise the sexes are similar.
The purple-naped lory is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is forest-dwelling endemic to the islands of Seram, Ambon, and perhaps also Haruku and Saparua, South Maluku, Indonesia. It is considered endangered, the main threat being from trapping for the cage-bird trade.
The black-faced munia is a species of estrildid finch found in Indonesia and East Timor. It occurs in a wide range of habitats including artificial landscapes, forest, grassland and savannah. It was first described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae in 1766. The IUCN has evaluated the status of this bird as being of least concern.
The Moluccan megapode, also known as Wallace's scrubfowl, Moluccan scrubfowl or painted megapode, is a small, approximately 31 cm long, olive-brown megapode. The genus Eulipoa is monotypic, but the Moluccan megapode is sometimes placed in Megapodius instead. Both sexes are similar with an olive-brown plumage, bluish-grey below, white undertail coverts, brown iris, bare pink facial skin, bluish-yellow bill and dark olive legs. There are light grey stripes on reddish-maroon feathers on its back. The young has brownish plumage, a black bill, legs and hazel iris.
The blue-naped parrot, also known as the blue-crowned green parrot, Luzon parrot, the Philippine green parrot, and locally known as pikoy, is a parrot found throughout the Philippines.
Alisterus is a genus of medium-sized Australasian parrots, comprising the Australian king parrot, the Papuan king parrot and the Moluccan king parrot. 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.
The red lory is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is the second-most commonly kept lory in captivity, after the rainbow lorikeet.
The red-breasted pygmy parrot is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. Its natural habitat is the boreal forests, subtropical or tropical dry forests, and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests of the Maluku Islands and Melanesia.
The Buru racket-tail, is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to the forest on the island of Buru, one of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia.
The claret-breasted fruit dove is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in the Moluccas, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands archipelago. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
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.
The coconut lorikeet, also known as the green-naped lorikeet, is a parrot in the family Psittaculidae. Seven species of lorikeets now recognised were once lumped together under Trichoglossus haematodus.
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