Red-capped parrot
Red-capped parrot | |
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Adult, Albany, Western Australia | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Family: | Psittaculidae |
Tribe: | Platycercini |
Genus: | Purpureicephalus Bonaparte, 1854 |
Species: | P. spurius
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Binomial name | |
Purpureicephalus spurius (Kuhl, 1820)
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Range in green | |
Synonyms[2] | |
Psittacus spurius Kuhl, 1820 |
The red-capped parrot (Purpureicephalus spurius) is a species of
Found in woodland and open savanna country, the red-capped parrot is predominantly herbivorous, consuming seeds, particularly of eucalypts, as well as flowers and berries, but insects are occasionally eaten. Nesting takes place in tree hollows, generally of older large trees. Although the red-capped parrot has been shot as a pest and has been affected by land clearing, the population is growing and the species is considered of least-concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has a reputation of being anxious and difficult to breed in captivity.
Taxonomy
The species was described in 1820 by
No subspecies are recognised currently.[2] Mathews tentatively described a subspecies carteri in 1915 from a specimen collected at Broomehill on the basis of darker upperparts and greener cheeks;[12] it was not considered distinct by later authors.[13] There is no known geographical variation; five birds from Esperance had smaller bills and tarsi than individuals from elsewhere in its range, but the sample was too small to draw any conclusions.[14]
The red-capped parrot is related to other broad-tailed parrots, but relationships within the group had been unclear.[15] In 1938, Australian ornithologist Dominic Serventy proposed that it was the sole survivor of a lineage of eastern Australian origin, with no close living relatives.[16] In 1955, British evolutionary biologist Arthur Cain proposed that the eastern lineage had vanished after being outcompeted by the crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans), and that its closest relative was the horned parakeet (Eunymphicus cornutus) of New Caledonia, which he concluded had adopted a much greener plumage of a wetter climate.[13] A 2011 genetic study including nuclear and mitochondrial DNA found that the red-capped parrot was closely related to the mulga parrot (Psephotellus varius), the two lineages having diverged in the Miocene. The combined lineage itself diverging from one giving rise to the hooded parrot (Psephotellus dissimilis) and golden-shouldered parrot (Psephotellus chrysopterygius).[17]
"Red-capped parrot" has been designated the official name by the
Description
The red-capped parrot has a long bill and bright, clear patterned plumage, variously described as magnificent, gaudy, or clownishly coloured.[23][24][21][25] Measuring 34–38 cm (13.5–15 in) in length with a 42–48 cm (16.5–19 in) wingspan, and weighing 105–125 g (3.7–4.4 oz), an adult red-capped parrot is a distinctive and easily recognised medium-sized parrot. The adult male has a crimson forehead and crown, which extends from the gape or base of the lower mandible through the eye and grey-brown lores. Its hindneck and cheeks are green, and its ear coverts are more yellow-green. In March and April, the crown feathers and ear coverts of birds with new plumage can have fine black edging. The feathers of the head, back and underparts, have grey bases that are generally hidden.[26] The upperparts, including the wings, are dark green, the rump yellow-green, and the tail is green with a dark blue tip.[4] The underparts are purplish-blue, the flanks green and red,[27] and the iris dark brown with a dark grey eye ring. The bill is pale blue-grey with a dark grey tip,[28] its upper mandible elongated to a slender hook.[29]
The colouring of the female is similar to, though slightly duller than that of the male; the red of its plumage is not as intense and its red flanks are spotted with some green and yellow.
Juveniles have greenish plumage overall, before beginning their first moult around August.[28] Their subsequent plumage much more closely resembles that of adult birds.[14] The faintly seen markings of the adult pattern begin as a dark green crown, with a reddish frontal band, the grey-violet of the female breast, and red underparts mottled green.[31] The bill is more orange, but turns the pale blue-grey of adult birds by two to five months of age.[28] Juvenile birds with white spots on ten or fewer feathers on the wing undersurface are male, while those with more cannot be sexed. Male subadults often have residual white spots on their wing feathers.[14]
The rapidly repeated contact call has been transcribed as krukk-rak or crrr-uk, while the alarm call consists of a series of high-pitched loud notes.[27] Male birds chatter loudly when agitated or marking their nest territory, but, unlike rosellas, not while feeding.[32] Nestlings and fledglings up to two weeks post leaving the nest make a high-pitched two-syllable food begging call.[26]
Distribution and habitat
The red-capped parrot occurs in the
The usual habitat is eucalypt forest or woodlands, but its distribution is mostly associated with marri (Corymbia calophylla). This tree species provides a constant food source and has increased in range and population since the settlement of Europeans.[34] The parrot can be found in vegetation dominated by other tree species such as jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), tuart (E. gomphocephala), wandoo (E. wandoo), yate (E. cornuta), and peppermint (Agonis flexuosa).[27] A seed-eating bird, it is encountered in farmland, orchards, and suburban landscapes in Perth.[31][21] It also occurs around remnant stands of marri conserved as shade trees on farmland in the western Wheatbelt and Swan Coastal Plain.[35] It can be adversely impacted by land clearing and removal of trees. The red-capped parrot uses large trees to roost in at night and retire to during the middle of the day. It generally avoids blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus) and pine plantations.[27]
The parrot is frequently observed at lake reserves in suburban areas on the Swan Coastal Plain, within sight of waders (
Behaviour
The parrots are found in pairs or small groups of 4 to 6 individuals,[38] or occasionally in larger flocks of 20–30 birds. Rarely a flock of up to 100 birds may be encountered; these are generally composed of juveniles.[27] Birds may associate with Australian ringneck parrots (Barnardius zonarius) or western rosellas (Platycercus icterotis).[27] The red-capped parrot is shy, and often retreats to the upper canopy of trees if disturbed,[27] which has made study of its breeding and social behaviour difficult. Hence many aspects of these are poorly known.[38]
The red-capped parrot is thought to be monogamous, pairs forming long-term bonds generally from around 20 months of age. Younger females have been recorded pairing with older males at 8 or 9 months old, but do not appear able to breed at this age.[38] The male initiates courtship by following the female and making a contact call, as well as performing a courtship display. This involves it raising its crown feathers, ruffling its crown and rump feathers, lowering its wings to display its rump, and raising and flaring its tail feathers. The female often stoops low and gives out a food-begging call. These displays begin before a nest site is chosen and continue through the breeding season until around two weeks after the young have fledged.[32]
Breeding
The breeding season is August to December.[24] The red-capped parrot needs mature trees large enough to have hollows in the trunk or branches. These trees can be on road verges, along water courses, or in paddocks, as well as forest or woodland.[27] Nests are generally 50–100 m (150–350 ft) apart, and pairs defend them vigorously from other birds, particularly other red-capped parrots, for the duration of nesting.[38] The nest site is a tree hollow generally in an older large tree, such as a marri, jarrah, tuart, flooded gum (Eucalyptus rudis) or paperbark (Melaleuca spp.), at a height between 4.5 and 16 metres (15 and 52 ft),[39][40] averaging around 9.6 m (31 ft) above the ground and often north or east-facing.[26] A lower entrance, narrow with a larger hollow, recorded at 3 metres (10 ft) was considered exceptional.[41] There are often chew marks at the entrance,[24] which is 70–170 millimetres (2.8–6.7 in) wide. The hollow is 190 and 976 mm (7.5 and 38.4 in) deep and is lined with wood dust at the bottom.[40] The female incubates her clutch of usually five, occasionally six (records up to nine), milk-white eggs.[24] The size of each almost spherical egg is 28 mm × 22 mm (1.10 in × 0.87 in).[21] The male attends her from a nearby tree, signalling to leave the nest for food he has brought.[24] Information on the incubation period is limited, but is between 20 and 24 days.[26]
The nestlings are
Feeding
Marri seeds are the preferred diet, but it also extracts seeds from karri (
Although the red-capped parrot eats fewer introduced plant species than other parrots, it does eat the seeds of slender thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus), sheep thistle (C. tenuiflorus), and variegated thistle (Silybum marianum).[46] The species has also adapted to exploit the introduction of orchard fruit such as apples and pears and the gardens of suburban areas.[21][31] The red-capped parrot bites predominantly red-skinned apples, attempting to retrieve the seed from inside. It does not eat the flesh but instead squeezes it to drink the juice.[47] The fruit of other cultivated introductions are also selected, including almond, nectarine, olive, peaches, plums, pomegranates, and white cedar (Melia azedarach). Insects such as psyllids also form part of their diet.[21][31] Insect larvae and lerp are also consumed,[34] particularly in late winter and spring during its breeding season.[48]
The red-capped parrot primarily feeds on the ground, clasping the capsule of eucalypts or cones of sheoak with one foot and extracting the seed with their slender hooked beak.
Parasites and diseases
A parasitic protozoan, Eimeria purpureicephali, was isolated and described from a diseased bird in 2016. It is an intracellular parasite that lives in the host's gastrointestinal system.[52] Species of bird louse recorded on the red-capped parrot include Forficuloecus palmai, Heteromenopon kalamundae and a member of the genus Neopsittaconirmus.[53] Psittacine beak and feather disease virus was isolated and sequenced from a fledgling in 2016.[54]
Conservation
Due to damage to orchard crops, these birds have been classified and shot as pests,
Aviculture
Its attractive colours make the red-capped parrot a desirable species to keep, although it has a reputation for being anxious in captivity and difficult to breed. This may be because of historically high proportion of wild-caught birds entering aviculture.[56] The first record of successful reproduction in captivity was in England, almost simultaneously by two aviculturalists in 1909, the slightly earlier hatching of one brood saw Mr. Astley awarded a medal by the nation's Avicultural Society.[57]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d Australian Biological Resources Study (1 March 2012). "Species Purpureicephalus spurius (Kuhl, 1820)". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ Kuhl, Heinrich (1820). Conspectus Psittacorum : cum specierum definitionibus, novarum descriptionibus, synonymis et circa patriam singularum naturalem adversariis, adjecto indice museorum, ubi earum artificiosae exuviae servantur. Nova Acta Leopoldina (in Latin). Bonn. p. 52.
- ^ a b c d Higgins 1999, p. 391.
- ^ Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (1830). "Notice on some new species of birds". Zoological Journal London. 5: 273–75.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-9870701-0-4.
- ISBN 978-0-642-27806-7.
- ^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1854). "Conspectus psittacorum". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée (in French). 6: 149–58 [153].
- ^ ISBN 978-0-643-10471-6.
- ^ Mathews, Gregory M. (1917). The Birds of Australia. Vol. 6. London: Witherby & Co. pp. 386–90.
- ^ Condon, H. T. (1941). "The Australian Broad-tailed Parrots (Subfamily Platycercinae)". Records of the South Australian Museum. 7: 117–44 [122–23].
- ^ a b Mathews, Gregory M. (1917). The Birds of Australia. Vol. 6. London: Witherby & Co. p. 389.
- ^ .
- ^ a b c d Higgins 1999, p. 399.
- ISBN 978-0-643-06511-6.
- doi:10.1071/MU937169.
- S2CID 53957317.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2018). "Parrots & cockatoos". World Bird List Version 8.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-84309-164-6.
- ISBN 978-0-7322-9193-8.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Serventy, D. L.; Whittell, H. M. (1951). "King Parrot Purpureicephalus spurius". A handbook of the birds of Western Australia (with the exception of the Kimberley division) (2nd ed.). Perth: Paterson Brokensha. pp. 230–31.
- ^ Abbott, Ian (2009). "Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage" (PDF). Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. 7 (2): 213–78 [255].
- ^ Morcombe 1986, p. 239.
- ^ a b c d e Morcombe 1986, p. 317.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-670-07796-0.
citing 'marri' HANZAB
- ^ a b c d Higgins 1999, p. 396.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Higgins 1999, p. 392.
- ^ a b c d Higgins 1999, p. 398.
- ^ a b c d Morcombe 1986, p. 238.
- ^ a b Higgins 1999, p. 397.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7018-0690-3.
- ^ a b Higgins 1999, p. 395.
- ^ Higgins 1999, p. 393.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-522-84285-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-74021-417-9.
- ^ Morcombe 1986, p. 242.
- ISBN 978-0-643-09785-8.
- ^ a b c d e f Higgins 1999, p. 394.
- ^ Powell 1990, p. 112.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7307-1208-4.
- ISBN 978-0-86777-382-8.
- ^ Powell 1990, p. 66.
- ^ Powell 1990, p. 92.
- ISBN 978-1-876928-45-2.
- ^ Hussey, B.M.J. (Penny) (2002). "Wattle I plant for wildlife?" (PDF). Conservation Science W. Aust. 4 (3): 62–71.
- ^ doi:10.1071/PC960191.
- ^ .
- .
- ^ "Chewed Marri nut identification". Western Australian Museum. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
description for guide: Identification to chewed marri nuts]
- ^ Powell 1990, p. 20.
- .
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- ^ Stranger, R.H.; Palma, R.L. (1998). "Lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from some Australian birds" (PDF). Records of the Western Australian Museum. 19: 169–86.
- PMID 27738029.
- ^ "Appendices I, II and III". CITES. 22 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-9588106-0-9.
- ISSN 0067-2238.
Cited texts
- Higgins, P.J. (1999). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 4: Parrots to Dollarbird. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-553071-1.
- Morcombe, Michael (1986). The Great Australian Birdfinder. Sydney: Lansdowne Press. ISBN 978-0-7018-1962-0.
- Powell, Robert; Pieroni, Margaret (1990). Leaf and Branch : Trees and Tall Shrubs of Perth (2nd ed.). Perth, W.A.: Dept. of Conservation and Land Management. ISBN 978-0-7309-3916-0.