- Norfolk Kaka
-
Norfolk Kaka 
Painting by John Gould Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Psittaciformes Family: Strigopidae Tribe: Nestorini Genus: Nestor Species: N. productus Binomial name Nestor productus
(Gould, 1836)Synonyms Nestor norfolcensis
Plyctolophus productus
Centrurus productusThe Norfolk Kaka, or Norfolk Island Kākā (Nestor productus) is an extinct species[1][2] of large parrot, belonging to the parrot family Strigopidae.[3] The birds were about 38 cm long, with mostly olive-brown upperparts, (reddish-)orange cheeks and throat, straw-coloured breast, thighs, rump and lower abdomen dark orange and a prominent beak.[4] It inhabited the rocks and treetops of Norfolk Island and adjacent Phillip Island.[2] It was a relative of the Kākā from New Zealand.[4]
Norfolk Kaka
Taxonomy
The Norfolk Kaka was first described by John Gould in 1836 as Plyctolophus productus.[5]
Biology
Little is known of the bird's biology. It was said to have lived both on the ground and in tall trees, feeding on flowering shrubs and trees. The call was described by Gould as "hoarse, quacking, inharmonious noise, sometimes resembling the barking of a dog".[6]
Discovery
It was first described by the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg following the discovery of Norfolk Island by James Cook on October 10, 1774. Unfortunately, the description was only published in 1844.[7] Around 1790, John Hunter depicted a bird on a Kangaroo Apple (Solanum aviculare).[8] The bird was formally described by John Gould in 1836,[9] from a specimen at the Zoological Society of London. Originally, the individuals from Norfolk Island and Philip Island were considered two separate species, Nestor norfolcensis (described by August von Pelzeln in 1860) and Nestor productus, respectively, but direct comparison of specimens of both island showed that they were the same species.[10]
Extinction
The Polynesians who lived at the Island for some time before the arrival of the Europeans hunted the Kākā for food before disappearing from the island around the 1600s.[11] It was also hunted for food and trapped as a pet after the arrival of the first settlers in 1788. The species' population suffered heavily after a penal colony was maintained from 1788 to 1814, and again from 1825 to 1854. The species likely became extinct in the wild in the early nineteenth century sometime during the period of this second penal colony. It was not recorded by Ensign Abel D. W. Best on either Norfolk or Phillip Island in his 1838/1839 diary entires. As Best collected specimens for ornithology, including the Norfolk Parakeet (which he called "Lories", being similar in shape), it is hard to accept that he would not have documented this much more attractive quarry, had the Kākā still been present.[12] The last bird in captivity died in London in 1851.
Skins
At least fifteen specimens survive.
Museum Collection numbers Collection location References Australian Museum in Sydney AM O.22287 & AM PA.2933 Phillip Island [13] Museum Victoria in Melbourne NMV 14050 Phillip Island [14] American Museum of Natural History in New York AMNH SKIN-616718 & AMNH Skin-300597 [15] National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. USNM 176991.4028148 & USNM 151991.4354158 unknown and Phillip Island [16][17] Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia ANSP 22082 Phillip Island [18] Zoölogisch Museum in Amsterdam ZMA 3164 Phillip Island [19][19] Naturalis in Leiden RMNH 110.061 & RMNH 110.068 Phillip Island [20][20] Natural History Museum in Tring NHM 1837.9.26.12, NHM 1955.6.N.19.3, NMH VEL.25.282a and NHM without catalog number [21][22] Birmingham 1 skin? [23] Derby Museum, Liverpool 2 skins? Norfolk Island & Phillip Island [10] Forshaw has measurements of seven skins, one male, one female and 5 unsexed.[4]
Drawing from specimen in the British Museum.Naturalis in Leiden has 2 skins; one male (RMNH 110.061) and one female (RMNH 110.068).[20] Both individuals originate from Philip Island. The male skin was acquired in 1863 long after the species' assumed disappearance, but it is unknown how it came to Leiden. It is more likely, given Phillip Island was already overrun with feral pigs, rabbits, goats and chicken in late 1838, that the 1863 specimen was purchased from another collection. The single unsexed individual from Philip Island at the Zoölogisch Museum Amsterdam [1] (ZMA 3164) has been obtained before 1860, and originate probably from the same batch as the two specimens at Naturalis in Leiden.[19] An old list of the specimens of birds present in the British Museum of Natural History list two individuals, both from Philip Island. One of the two specimens came from Mr. Bell's collection.[22]
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2008). Nestor productus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 December 2008. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is endangered.
- ^ a b "Norfolk Island Kaka - BirdLife Species Factsheet". BirdLife International. 2008. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=1411&m=0.
- ^ Christidis L, Boles WE (2008). Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. Canberra: CSIRO Publishing. p. 200. ISBN 9780643065116.
- ^ a b c Forshaw, Joseph M.; Cooper, William T. (1981) [1973, 1978]. Parrots of the World (corrected second ed.). David & Charles, Newton Abbot, London. ISBN 0-7153-7698-5.
- ^ John Gould (1836) Characters of some new Birds in the Society's Collection, including two new genera, Paradoxornis and Actinodura Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, Pt4 no.38 p.19
- ^ Higgins, P.J. (ed). (1999). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 4: Parrots to Dollarbird. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0-19-553071-3
- ^ Forster, Johann Reinhold (1844). Descriptiones animalium : quae in itinere ad maris Australis terras per annos 1772, 1773 et 1774 /suscepto collegit observavit et delineavit Joannes Reinoldus Forster ... nunc demum editae auctoritate et impensis Academiae litterarum regiae berolinae curante Henrico Lichtenstein academiae socio. Berolini : Ex officina academica.
- ^ Olsen, Penny (2001). Feather and Brush: 300 Years of Australian Bird Art. CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 9780643065475.
- ^ Gould, J. (1865). Handbook to the Birds of Australia. 2. London: the author. http://books.google.com/?id=YkcDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA550.
- ^ a b Nature 56 (1445): 237–240 [239]. 1897. doi:10.1038/056237c0. http://books.google.com/?id=f4oCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA239.
- ^ Holdaway, Richard N.; Atholl Anderson (2001). "Avifauna from the Emily Bay Settlement Site, Norfolk Island: A Preliminary Account". Records of the Australian Museum. Supplement 27: 85–100. doi:10.3853/j.0812-7387.27.2001.1343. http://www.amonline.net.au/pdf/publications/1343_complete.pdf.
- ^ Moore, J.L. (1985). "Ensign Best's bird observations on Norfolk Island". Notornis 32 (4): 319–322. http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_32-1985/Notornis_32_4.pdf.
- ^ http://data.gbif.org/occurrences/223542051/ and http://data.gbif.org/occurrences/223542052/
- ^ http://data.gbif.org/occurrences/224053752/
- ^ http://data.gbif.org/occurrences/213712744/ and http://data.gbif.org/occurrences/213713394/
- ^ http://data.gbif.org/occurrences/151352386/ and http://data.gbif.org/occurrences/151352292/
- ^ http://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/birds/
- ^ http://data.gbif.org/occurrences/242016583/
- ^ a b c "Nestor productus - Norfolk Island Kaka specimen(s) in the ZMA". Nlbif.eti.uva.nl. http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/zma3d/detail.php?id=226&sort=taxon&type=all. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ a b c "Naturalis - Extinct bird: Nestor productus (Norfolk Island Kaka)". Nlbif.eti.uva.nl. http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail?lang=uk&id=51. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ collection data
- ^ a b Gray, George Robert (1855). List of the Specimens of Birds in the Collection of the British Museum. ISBN 1143028457.
- ^ Newman, Edward (1899). "Editorial gleanings". The Zoologist 3: 234–240url=http://books.google.com/books?id=-z8XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA236.
External links
- 3D view of specimens RMNH 110.061 and RMNH 110.068 at Naturalis, Leiden (requires QuickTime browser plugin).
Kea, Kaka, and Kakapo (family: Strigopidae) Tribe Species (extinctions: † indicates a species confirmed to be extinct; ₴ indicates evidence only from sub-fossils)Nestorini Strigopini StrigopsKakapo (supporting pages: List of Kakapo • Sirocco (parrot))List of Strigopidae • Birds of New ZealandCategories:- IUCN Red List extinct species
- Extinct birds
- Nestor
- Parrots
- Extinct animals of Australia
- Bird extinctions since 1500
- Fauna of Norfolk Island
- Animals described in 1836
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