Orange-bellied parrot
| Orange-bellied parrot | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Male in South West Tasmania | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Superfamily: | Psittacoidea |
| Family: | Psittaculidae |
| Subfamily: | Psittaculinae |
| Tribe: | Pezoporini |
| Genus: | Neophema |
| Species: | N. chrysogaster |
| Binomial name | |
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Neophema chrysogaster (Latham, 1790) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Euphema aurantia Gould, 1841 |
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Euphema aurantia Gould, 1841
Nanodes gouldii Ewing, 1841
Psephotus chrysogaster mab Mathews, 1912
Neonanodes chrysogaster wallicus Mathews, 1924
The orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster) is a small broad-tailed parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only three species of parrot that migrate. It was described by Latham in 1790. A small parrot around 20 cm (8 in) long, it exhibits sexual dimorphism. The adult male is distinguished by its bright grass-green upperparts, yellow underparts and orange belly patch. The adult female and juvenile are duller green in colour. All birds have a blue frontal band and blue outer wing feathers.
The orange-bellied parrot breeds in Tasmania and winters near the coast, foraging on saltmarsh species, beach or dune plants and a variety of exotic weed species on southern mainland Australia. The diet consists of seeds and berries of small coastal grasses and shrubs.
With a wild population 14 as of early February 2017 , it is regarded as a critically endangered species.
Orange-bellied parrots are being bred in a captive breeding program with parrots in Taroona, Tasmania, Healesville Sanctuary, Adelaide Zoo, Melbourne Zoo, Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park and Priam Parrot Breeding Centre. The captive population consists of around 300 birds, with a target of 350 birds by 2016–17. Because of the decline in the wild population in recent years, an additional 21 birds from the wild population were captured in 2010–2011 to improve the genetic diversity of the species' captive breeding program. Taken as a whole, the captive population, an example of ex situ conservation, is termed an "insurance population" against extinction.
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Wikipedia