Mascarene grey parakeet
Mascarene grey parakeet | |
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Life restoration by Julian P. Hume | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Family: | Psittaculidae |
Genus: | Psittacula |
Species: | †P. bensoni
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Binomial name | |
†Psittacula bensoni (Holyoak, 1973)
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Location of subfossils of this species have been found
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Synonyms | |
Lophopsittacus bensoni Holyoak, 1973 |
The Mascarene grey parakeet, Mauritius grey parrot, or Thirioux's grey parrot (Psittacula bensoni), is an
The Mascarene grey parakeet was grey, had a long tail, and was larger than other species of the genus Psittacula, which are usually green. The grey parrots were said to be easy to hunt, as the capture of one would result in its calling out to summon the whole flock. They were also considered to be crop pests, and being such easy prey meant that they were extensively hunted. Coupled with deforestation, this pushed them into extinction. This had happened by the 1730s on Réunion and by the 1760s on Mauritius.
Taxonomy
In 1973, English
Holyoak provisionally placed the new species in the same genus as the broad-billed parrot, naming it Lophopsittacus bensoni; the name honours English ornithologist
Old, vague accounts of several different now-extinct Mascarene parrots have created much confusion for the scientists who subsequently examined them.
In 2007, the English palaeontologist
The population of grey parrots described from the island of Réunion (referred to as Psittacula
Evolution
Based on morphological features, the Alexandrine parakeet has been proposed as the
Although most extinct parrot species of the Mascarenes are poorly known, subfossil remains show that they shared common features such as enlarged heads and jaws, reduced
Genetic studies in the early 21st century found the genus Psittacula to be
Description
Contemporary accounts describe the Mascarene grey parakeet as a grey, long-tailed parrot. Subfossils show that its
Based on subfossils, the Mascarene grey parakeet was smaller than the broad-billed parrot and the Rodrigues parrot, but similar in size to the Mascarene parrot, though with a wider beak. The mandibular symphysis (central jaw ridge) was 2.7–2.9 mm (0.11–0.11 in) thick along the mid-line, the palatine (part of the palate) was 31.1 mm (1.22 in), and the tarsometatarsus (bone in the lower leg) was 22–22.5 mm (0.87–0.89 in).[2] The grey parrots from Réunion were described as being larger than the sympatric echo parakeet.[7]
Behaviour and ecology
According to Cheke and Hume, the anatomy of the Mascarene grey parakeet suggests that its habits were largely terrestrial, and it may have eaten the fruits of the
Van West-Zanen, who visited Mauritius in 1602, was the first to mention grey parrots there, and he also described the hunting methods used:
... some of the people went bird hunting. They could grab as many birds as they wished and could catch them by hand. It was an entertaining sight to see. The grey parrots are especially tame and if one is caught and made to cry out, soon hundreds of the birds fly around ones’ ears, which were then hit to the ground with little sticks.[7]
Dutch sailor
Coming further inland we found [a] great number of geese, doves, grey parrots and other birds, also many land-turtles... And what we most did marvel at, when we held one of the parrots and other birds and squeezed it till it screamed, there came all the others from thereabout as if they would free it and let themselves be caught as well, so we had enough of them to eat.[7]
In 1705, French pilot engineer Jean Feuilley gave a more detailed description of the parrots of Réunion and their ecology:
There are several sorts of parrot, of different sizes and colours. Some are the size of a hen, grey, the beak red [Mascarene parrot]; others the same colour the size of a pigeon [Mascarene grey parakeet], and yet others, smaller, are green [echo parakeet]. There are great quantities, especially in the Sainte-Suzanne area and on the mountainsides. They are very good to eat, especially when they are fat, which is from the month of June until the month of September, because at that time the trees produce a certain wild seed that these birds eat.[7]
Many other endemic species of Mauritius and Réunion were lost after the arrival of humans, so that the
Extinction
To the sailors who visited the Mascarene Islands from 1598 onwards, the fauna was mainly interesting from a culinary standpoint.[4] Of the eight or so parrot species endemic to the Mascarenes, only the echo parakeet has survived. The others likely all vanished due to a combination of extensive hunting and deforestation. Being easily caught, the Mascarene grey parakeet was often hunted in abundance by early visitors to Mauritius and Réunion. As the parrots fattened themselves from June to September, they were particularly sought after at this time of the year. An account by Dutch admiral Steven van der Hagen from 1606 even suggests that the grey parrots of Mauritius were sometimes killed for amusement.[7]
In the 1720s, French traveller Sieur Dubois stated that the grey parrots on Réunion were especially sought after during their fat season, and also claimed they were crop-pests:
Grey parrots, as good [to eat] as the pigeons... All the birds of this island have their season at different times, being six months in the low country and six months in the mountains when returning, they are very fat and good to eat... The sparrows [
That these birds were said to damage crops probably contributed to their being hunted. The French settlers began to clear forests using the slash-and-burn technique in the 1730s, which in itself would have had a large effect on the population of parrots and other animals that nest in tree cavities.[7]
The grey parrots appear to have been common on Mauritius until the 1750s in spite of the pressure from humans, but since they were last mentioned by French colonist Charpentier de Cossigny in 1759 (published in 1764), they probably became extinct shortly after this time.[12] The grey parrots of Réunion were last mentioned in 1732, also by Cossigny. This final account gives an insight as to how he regarded the culinary quality of parrots from Réunion:
The woods are full of parrots, either completely grey [Mascarene grey parrot] or completely green [echo parakeet]. They were eaten a lot formerly, the grey especially, but both are always lean and very tough whatever sauce one puts on them.[7]
The 1648 engraving possibly depicting this species was captioned with a Dutch poem, here in English naturalist
For food the seamen hunt the flesh of feathered fowl,
They tap the palms, and round-rumped dodos they destroy,
The parrot's life they spare that he may peep and howl,
And thus his fellows to imprisonment decoy.[20]
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Lophopsittacus bensoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ .
- S2CID 17113275.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8014-3954-4.
- ISBN 978-0-486-21869-4.
- ISBN 978-0521113311.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-86977-124-9.
- S2CID 2954728.
- ^ Cheke, A. S.; Beentje, H. (2019). "Exploring At Second-Hand: Separating the Editor from the Traveller in Soeteboom's Version of Van West-Zanen's Sojourn in Mauritius in 1602". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts & Sciences of Mauritius. 1: 37–47.
- ^ Gill, F.; Donsker, D. (2015). "New Zealand parrots, cockatoos & parrots". IOC World Bird List. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
- ^ Hume, J. P. (2013). Göhlich, U. B.; Kroh, A. (eds.). "A synopsis of the pre-human avifauna of the Mascarene Islands" (PDF). Proceedings of the 8th International Meeting of Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution: 195–237.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7136-6544-4.
- S2CID 53325487.
- S2CID 52995298.
- S2CID 91969786.
- ^ Braun, M. P.; Bahr., N.; Wing, M. (2016). "Phylogenie und Taxonomie der Edelsittiche (Psittaciformes: Psittaculidae: Psittacula), mit Beschreibung von drei neuen Gattungen". Vogelwarte (in German) (54): 322–324.
- .
- .
- S2CID 52124404.
External links
- Media related to Psittacula bensoni at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Psittacula at Wikispecies