Malherbe's parakeet
| Malherbe's parakeet | |
|---|---|
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| At Isaac Peacock Springs wildlife refuge, New Zealand | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Psittaculidae |
| Genus: | Cyanoramphus |
| Species: | C. malherbi |
| Binomial name | |
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Cyanoramphus malherbi Souancé, 1857 |
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Malherbe's parakeet – usually known as the orange-fronted parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi) or, in Māori, kākāriki karaka – is a small parrot endemic to New Zealand. In New Zealand it is always known as the orange-fronted parakeet, a name it shares with a species from Central America, while in the rest of the world it is known as Malherbe's parakeet. Restricted to a few valleys in the South Island and four offshore islands, its population declined to around 200 in the 1990s, and it is now considered critically endangered.
The genus Cyanoramphus is endemic to New Zealand and surrounding islands and it has been proposed that the ancestor of Cyanoramphus dispersed from New Caledonia to New Zealand via Norfolk Island 500,000 years ago.
Controversy has surrounded the classification of this bird; is its own species or a colour morph of the similar yellow-crowned parakeet (C. auriceps)? It was described in 1857 from a museum specimen of unknown origin; its species name honours the French ornithologist Alfred Malherbe. During the late 1800s ornithologists considered it to be a distinct species, but during the latter half of the 20th century it was often considered a colour morph; as recently as 1990, the Ornithological Society of New Zealand listed it as a form of C. auriceps. After analysis using molecular genetic methods in 2000, the current consensus among researchers, which is also accepted by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, is that Cyanoramphus malherbi is a distinct species.
Cyanoramphus malherbi is a medium size parrot, approximately 20 centimetres long. Its body is primarily a bright blue-green, with azure blue primary covert and leading edge feathers on its wings.
It has a distinctive (and diagnostic) orange frontal band on its yellow crown, but this is absent in juvenile birds, which have fully green heads. The orange frontal band begins to develop when the bird is 2–5 weeks old. Its rump has orange patches on the sides. Colouration in males tends to be brighter, and juveniles are distinctly duller.
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Wikipedia