Incas (parakeet)
Species | Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) |
---|---|
Sex | Male |
Hatched | before 1885 Likely in Florida if not captive bred |
Died | Cincinnati, Ohio | February 21, 1918 (aged at least 33)
Resting place | Unknown |
Known for | Last known living Carolina parakeet |
Incas (before 1885 – February 21, 1918) was a male
Background
The Carolina parakeet was the only parrot species historically native to eastern North America and was documented to be plentiful in early accounts. Over the centuries following
Life
Incas was brought to the Cincinnati Zoo in 1885 in an attempt to establish a captive breeding population there. He was purchased along with 15 other birds for a sum of $40 (equivalent to $1,200 in 2022).[2][7] Around that time, captive birds were often sold to Europe and the majority of Carolina parakeets in the pet trade were sourced in Florida with dozens at a time captured into the 1890s.[7][8] At the zoo, Incas was housed in an aviary in the style of a Japanese pagoda that was built in 1875.[9]
Incas was eventually paired with a female bird named Lady Jane who arrived in the same cohort. They were successful in laying eggs regularly over 32 years together, but they consistently rolled the eggs from their nest.[2][7] While the couple was still together, the London Zoo offered $400 (over $10,000 in 2022) for the pair.[7] Given established knowledge about Carolina parakeet breeding habits, it is most likely that the birds produced two or three eggs per clutch once each year. Lady Jane, the penultimate captive bird reportedly died aged at least 32 in late summer 1917. Zookeepers in Cincinnati alleged that afterwards Incas became "listless and mournful".[7] At some point after September 1914, possibly after Lady Jane's death, Incas was allegedly moved into the same pagoda enclosure that Martha died in.[1] In the 48 hours before Incas's death on the evening of February 21, 1918, Cincinnati experienced unseasonably cold weather with snowfall and night-time temperatures down to 7 °F (−14 °C).[7]
Legacy
After dying, like Martha, Incas was supposed to be sent in a block of ice to the
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "The last Carolina Parakeet". John James Audubon Center. December 22, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Sullivan, Mallorie (February 22, 2018). "The last Carolina parakeet ever, lost in memory and now just lost". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
- ^ Snyder, Noel (June 2004). The Carolina Parakeet: Glimpses of a Vanished Bird. Princeton University Press.
- ^ "The Last Carolina Parakeet". digital.library.sc.edu.
- JSTOR 4071042.
- ^ a b Rosen, Jonathan (February 24, 2008). "What a little bird told us". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ ISBN 1585427225.
- ^ Snyder, N. F. and Russell, K. (2020). Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.carpar.01
- ^ "Project Passenger Pigeon". cincinnatizoo.org.
- ^ "How humans killed off the only parrot native to the continental U.S." nationalgeographic.com. December 12, 2019.