Macquarie Island Parakeet

Taxobox
name = Macquarie Island Parakeet
status =
status_system =
status_ref =
trend =


image_width = 250px
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Psittaciformes
familia = Psittacidae
subfamilia = Platycercinae
tribus = Platycercini
genus = "Cyanoramphus"
species = "C. erythrotis"
binomial = "Cyanoramphus erythrotis"
binomial_authority = (Wagler, 1832)

The Macquarie Island Parakeet ("Cyanoramphus erythrotis") is an extinct parrot from Macquarie Island, a subantarctic island in the Southern Ocean that is politically part of Tasmania, Australia.

Taxonomy

The Macquarie Island Parakeet was previously considered to be a subspecies of the Red-crowned Parakeet "C. novaezelandiae", which it resembled in appearance, but was later lumped with Reischek's Parakeet from the Antipodes Islands in a 2001 paper by Wee Ming Boon and others following an examination of the molecular systematics of the genus which found that many of the Red-crowned Parakeet subspecies should be elevated to full species.Boon, Wee Ming; Kearvell, Jonathan C.; Daugherty, Charles H.; & Chambers, Geoffrey K. (2001). Molecular systematics and conservation of kakariki ("Cyanoramphus spp."). "Science for Conservation" 176. Dept of Conservation:Wellington, New Zealand. ISBN 0-478-22031-6] However, subsequently the provenance of Boon "et al"’s supposed Macquarie Island material was shown to be mistaken, originating from the Antipodes Islands instead.Scofield, R. Paul. (2005). The supposed Macquarie Island parakeet in the collection of Canterbury Museum. "Notornis" 52(2): 117-120] Chambers, Geoffrey K.; & Boon, Wee Ming. (2005). Molecular systematics of Macquarie Island and Reischek's parakeets. "Notornis" 52 (4): 249–250. [http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_52-2005/Notornis_52_4_249.pdf] ]

History

When Macquarie Island was discovered in 1810 the parrots were widespread in tussock grassland and abundant on the shoreline, feeding on invertebrates in beach-washed seaweed. Despite the introduction of dogs and cats to the island by 1820, as well as being hunted for food by sealers, the parrots remained common there until about 1880.Taylor, R.H. (1979). How the Macquarie Island Parakeet became extinct. "New Zealand Journal of Ecology" 2: 42-45.]

The transition from abundance to extinction took little more than a decade. The critical events leading to the extinction of the parrot were the introductions of both Wekas and European Rabbits to the island in the 1870s and their subsequent spread during the 1880s. Until then winter, with the seasonal absence of burrow-nesting petrels and breeding penguins, was a period of food scarcity for terrestrial predators, which served to keep their numbers low. The presence of rabbits provided a year-round food supply for cats and wekas and allowed their numbers to expand, leading to increased predation on the parrot, the last sighting of which was in 1891.

References