Carolina Parakeet

Carolina Parakeet
Carolina Parakeet
Mounted specimen of C. carolinensis, Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Psittacinae
Tribe: Arini
Genus: Conuropsis
Salvadori, 1891
Species: C. carolinensis
Binomial name
Conuropsis carolinensis
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies

C. c. carolinensis
C. c. ludovicianus

Synonyms

Psittacus carolinensis Linnaeus, 1758
Conurus carolinensis: Lesson, 1831

The Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis)[Note 1] was the only parrot species native to the eastern United States. It was found from the Ohio Valley to the Gulf of Mexico, and lived in old forests along rivers. It was the only species at the time classified in the genus Conuropsis. It was called puzzi la née ("head of yellow") or pot pot chee by the Seminole and kelinky in Chikasha.[2]

Contents

Extinction

C. c. carolinensis by John James Audubon

The last wild specimen was killed in Okeechobee County, Florida, in 1904, and the last captive bird died at the Cincinnati Zoo on February 21, 1918. This was the male specimen "Incas," who died within a year of his mate "Lady Jane." Coincidentally, Incas died in the same aviary cage in which the last Passenger Pigeon, "Martha," had died nearly four years prior.[3] It was not until 1939, however, that it was determined that the Carolina Parakeet had become extinct.

At some date between 1937 and 1955, three parakeets resembling this species were sighted and filmed in the Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia. However, the American Ornithologists Union analyzed the film and concluded that they had probably filmed feral parakeets. Additional reports of the bird were made in Okeechobee County, Florida, until the late 1920s, but these are not supported by specimens.[citation needed]

The species may have appeared as a very rare vagrant in places as far north as Southern Ontario. A few bones, including a pygostyle found at the Calvert Site in Southern Ontario, came from the Carolina Parakeet. The possibility remains open that this particular specimen was taken to Southern Ontario for ceremonial purposes.[4]

Reasons for extinction

C. c. ludovicianus by John James Audubon

The Carolina Parakeet died out because of a number of different threats. To make space for more agricultural land, large areas of forest were cut down, taking away its habitat. The bird's colorful feathers (green body, yellow head, and red around the bill) were in demand as decorations in ladies' hats. The birds were also kept as pets and could be bred easily in captivity. However, little was done by owners to increase the population of tamed birds. Finally, they were killed in large numbers because farmers considered them a pest, although many farmers valued them for controlling invasive cockleburs. It has also been hypothesized that the introduced honeybee helped contribute to its extinction by taking many of the bird's nesting sites.[5]

A factor that contributed to their extinction was the unfortunate flocking behavior that led them to return immediately to a location where some of the birds had just been killed. This led to even more being shot by hunters as they gathered about the wounded and dead members of the flock.

This combination of factors extirpated the species from most of its range until the early years of the 20th century. However, the last populations were not much hunted for food or feathers, nor did the farmers in rural Florida consider them a pest, as the benefit of the birds' love of cockleburs clearly outweighed the minor damage they did to the small-scale garden plots. The final extinction of the species is somewhat of a mystery, but the most likely cause seems to be that the birds succumbed to poultry disease, as suggested by the rapid disappearance of the last, small, but apparently healthy and reproducing flocks of these highly social birds. If this is true, the very fact that the Carolina Parakeet was finally tolerated to roam in the vicinity of human settlements proved its undoing.[2] The fact remains, however, that persecution significantly reduced the bird's population over many decades.

The Louisiana subspecies of the Carolina Parakeet, C. c. ludovicianus,[Note 2] was slightly different in color to the parent species, being more bluish-green and generally of a somewhat subdued coloration, and went extinct in much the same way, but at a somewhat earlier date (early 1910s). The Appalachian Mountains separated these birds from the eastern C. c. carolinensis

In museums

A stuffed specimen of C. c. carolinensis, on display at the Redpath Museum, Montreal

About 720 skins and 16 skeletons are housed in museums around the world.[6] In 1977, ecologist Daniel McKinley accepted 20 of the 49 supposed egg specimens as certainly and 7 as probably correctly assigned to this species.[7] Five eggs collected in Florida on April 30, 1927, were controversially attributed to this species (FSM 87234 - 3 eggs - and 89434 - 2 eggs). These are not accepted as valid by McKinley based on their small size and early date of collection, but molecular analysis could possibly determine whether these are in fact eggs of Carolina Parakeets.[7]

A fossil parrot, Conuropsis fratercula,[Note 3] was described based on a single humerus from the Miocene Sheep Creek Formation (possibly late Hemingfordian, c.16 mya, possibly later) of Snake Creek, Nebraska.[8] However, it is not altogether certain that this species is correctly assigned to Conuropsis,[9] but some authors[citation needed] consider it a paleosubspecies of the Carolina Parakeet. This is almost certainly erroneous given the long distance in time, and probably based on a misunderstanding of the original description. Therein, C. fratercula is called a "new subspecies" but fratercula is consistently applied as a species-level name throughout the publication, and the fossil is correctly referenced thus in the discussion:

"The present species is of peculiar interest as it represents the first known parrotlike bird to be described as a fossil from North America."(Wetmore 1926;[8] italics added)

Parakeets in the United States

Rare photo of live specimen taken in 1906

The extinction of the Carolina Parakeet represents the irrevocable loss of eastern North America's only truly indigenous parrot. However, populations of a South American parrot species, Myiopsitta monachus, the Monk Parakeet, or Quaker Parrot, began to breed in the same region from the 1960s onwards. Whether introduced accidentally or intentionally, the Monk Parakeet has as of 2009 established flocks in several states, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois, Ohio (Cincinnati area), Kentucky (Northern/Greater Cincinnati area), Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.

Smaller feral colonies of several other species of parrots and parakeets have since established themselves in various locations of the USA, including downtown Pasadena, California and San Francisco, California. Large flocks are well noted in the San Diego region, particularly in El Cajon and the Ocean Beach area. The Peach-faced Lovebird, a native to Africa, has established itself in parts of the Phoenix, Arizona metro area. The Mexican Thick-billed Parrot also used to range into Arizona before its population declined in the 20th century; attempts to reintroduce them have, until now, not met with any lasting success.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Conuropsis, from "Conurus", an obsolete name of the genus Aratinga (cf. conure and see also synonyms listed above), and "-opsis", "of similar appearance to". carolinensis, "from Carolina".
  2. ^ ludovicianus, "from Louisiana"
  3. ^ fratercula, from Latin for "little brother". This was a smaller bird, three-quarters the size of the Carolina Parakeet.

Bibliography

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Conuropsis carolinensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 3.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/142615. Retrieved June 3, 2011. 
  2. ^ a b Noel F. Snyder & Keith Russell (2002). "Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis)". In A. Poole & F. Gill. The Birds of North America. 667. Philadelphia, PA: The Birds of North America, Inc.. doi:10.2173/bna.667. http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/667. 
  3. ^ Cokinos, Christopher (June 2005). "The Carolina Parakeet: Glimpses of a Vanished Bird". Birder's World. http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/default.aspx?c=a&id=432. 
  4. ^ W. Earl Godfrey (1986). The Birds of Canada (revised ed.). National Museum of Natural History. p. 303. ISBN 0-660-10758-9. 
  5. ^ Richard Ellis (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. p. 170. ISBN 0-06-055804-0. 
  6. ^ Dieter Luther (1996) (in German). Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt [The extinct birds of the world] (4th ed.). Heidelberg: Westarp-Wissenschaften. ISBN 3-89432-213-6. 
  7. ^ a b Daniel McKinley (1977). "Eggs of the Carolina Parakeet: a preliminary review" (PDF). Bird-Banding 48 (1): 25–37. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/JFO/v048n01/p0025-p0037.pdf. 
  8. ^ a b Alexander Wetmore (1926). "Descriptions of additional fossil birds from the Miocene of Nebraska" (PDF). American Museum Novitates 211: 1–5. http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/3188/1/N0211.pdf. 
  9. ^ Storrs L. Olson (1985). "The fossil record of birds. Section VIII. K. Psittaciformes". In D. S. Farner, J. R. King & Kenneth C. Parkes. Avian Biology. 8. New York: Academic Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 0122494083. 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Carolina parakeet — noun Etymology: Carolina, English colony Date: 1893 an extinct parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) of the eastern United States …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Carolina parakeet — noun extinct parakeet whose range extended far into the United States • Syn: ↑Conuropsis carolinensis • Hypernyms: ↑parakeet, ↑parrakeet, ↑parroket, ↑paraquet, ↑paroquet, ↑parroquet …   Useful english dictionary

  • Carolina parakeet — an extinct New World parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis, that ranged into the northern U.S., having yellowish green plumage with an orange yellow head. [1840 50, Amer.] * * * …   Universalium

  • Parakeet — A parakeet is a North American term for any one of a large number of unrelated small to medium sized parrot species, that generally have long tail feathers. The term is descriptive, but does not imply an actual relationship between the different… …   Wikipedia

  • carolina paroquet — noun see carolina parakeet * * * Carolina parakeet or Carolina paroquet, a green parakeet with a yellow head that formerly inhabited the central and southeastern United States …   Useful english dictionary

  • Parakeet — Parrakeet Par ra*keet (p[a^]r r[.a]*k[=e]t ), Parakeet Par a*keet , n. [See {Paroquet}.] (Zo[ o]l.) Any one of numerous species of small parrots having a graduated tail, which is frequently very long; called also {paroquet} and {paraquet}. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • List of North Carolina birds — This list of North Carolina birds is a comprehensive listing of all the bird species recorded from the U.S. state of North Carolina. This list is based on a checklist used by the North Carolina Bird Records Committee, the list used by most… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of North Carolina — The Northern Cardinal is the state bird of North Carolina. In the state of North Carolina, 469 species of birds have been recorded.[1] This number includes the bird species that have been sighted in North Carolina and are believed to be of wild o …   Wikipedia

  • List of South Carolina birds — This list of South Carolina birds is a comprehensive listing of all the bird species seen naturally in the state of South Carolina.*Black bellied Whistling Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis *Fulvous Whistling Duck Dendrocygna bicolor *Greater White… …   Wikipedia

  • North Carolina Zoo — Zoo logo Zoo entrance Date opened August 13, 1976 (Official) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”