The horned parakeet (''Eunymphicus cornutus'') is a species of

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...

in the genus ''

Eunymphicus ''Eunymphicus'' is a genus of parrots in the family Psittaculidae. The genus is endemic to New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, and is closely related to the ''Cyanoramphus'' parakeets of Oceania. Taxonomy The genus ''Eunymphicus'' was introd ...

'', in the family

Psittaculidae Psittaculidae is a family containing Old World parrots. It consists of five subfamilies: Agapornithinae, Loriinae, Platycercinae, Psittacellinae and Psittaculinae. This family has been accepted into ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World' ...

. It is a medium-sized parrot

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. It is called "horned" because it has two black feathers that protrude from the head and have red tips.

Taxonomy

The horned parakeet was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist

Johann Friedrich Gmelin , fields = , workplaces = University of GöttingenUniversity of Tübingen , alma_mater = University of Tübingen , doctoral_advisor = Philipp Friedrich GmelinFerdinand Christoph Oetinger , academic_advisors = , doctora ...

in his revised and expanded edition of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

's ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. He placed it with all the other parrots in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Psittacus ''Psittacus'' is a genus of African grey parrots in the subfamily Psittacinae. It contains the two species: the grey parrot (''Psittacus erithacus'') and the Timneh parrot (''Psittacus timneh''). For many years, the grey parrot and Timneh parr ...

'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Psittacus cornutus''. Gmelin based his description on the "horned parrot" that had been described and illustrated in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. Latham's specimen had been obtained from

during Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

's first voyage to the south Pacific Ocean. The specimen formed part of the collection of

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...

. The horned parakeet is now placed with the

Ouvea parakeet The Ouvea parakeet (''Eunymphicus uvaeensis'') or Uvea parakeet, is a species of parrot in the genus ''Eunymphicus'', in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to the island of Uvea in the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia. The species was once c ...

in the

'' that was introduced in 1937 by the American ornithologist

James L. Peters James Lee Peters (August 13, 1889 – April 19, 1952) was an American ornithologist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Dr. Austin Peters and Francis Howie Lee on August 13, 1889. His early education was at the Roxbury Latin School, followe ...

. The genus name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''eu'' meaning "true" and the genus name ''Nymphicus'' that had been introduce in 1832 by

Johann Georg Wagler Johann Georg Wagler (28 March 1800 – 23 August 1832) was a German herpetologist and ornithologist. Wagler was assistant to Johann Baptist von Spix, and gave lectures in zoology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich after it was moved ...

for the

cockatiel The cockatiel (; ''Nymphicus hollandicus''), also known as weiro (also spelt weero), or quarrion, is a medium-sized parrot that is a member of its own branch of the cockatoo family endemic to Australia. They are prized as household pets and comp ...

. The specific epithet ''cornutus'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

meaning "horned". In 1998, it was found through DNA studies that ''Eunymphicus cornutus'', the horned parakeet, and ''Eunymphicus uvaeensis'', the

, were two separate species.

Description

Adult birds usually measure approximately 32 cm (or about 14 inches) in length, including the tail. Like many parrots, the horned parakeet is primarily green in color. This parrot has a yellowish nape with a black and red face and bluish wings and tail. Its most striking feature is a two-feather black crest, with the crest feathers tipped in red. It makes a nasal "kho-khoot"

contact call Contact calls are seemingly haphazard sounds made by many social animals (such as a chicken's cluck). Contact calls are unlike other calls (such as alarm calls) in that they are not usually widely used, conspicuous calls, but rather short exclamatio ...

, and also makes a wide range of shrieks and chuckles.

Distribution and habitat

The horned parakeet is endemic to

. It preferentially selects rainforest and

laurel forest Laurel forest, also called laurisilva or laurissilva, is a type of subtropical forest found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable, mild temperatures. The forest is characterized by broadleaf tree species with evergreen, glossy and elo ...

habitat, but will accept scrublands or savannah. It lives in humid pine forests on New Caledonia, especially when ''

Agathis ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely re ...

'' and ''

Araucaria ''Araucaria'' (; original pronunciation: .ɾawˈka. ɾja is a genus of evergreen Conifer, coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. There are 20 extant taxon, extant species in New Caledonia (where 14 species are endemism, ende ...

'' pines are present.

Behaviour and ecology

Small family groups, or pairs, will forage in the canopy for their diet of nuts and seeds.

Breeding

Horned parakeets will nest either on or near the ground, and also in hollowed-out logs, or nest hollows in dead trees. Uncommon among parrots, horned parakeets have been reported nest-sharing. The number of eggs laid is usually 2–4. Incubation lasts 21–22 days (in captivity) and the time from hatching to fledging is approximately 5 to 6 weeks (again, in captivity).

Status

This bird has declined since the 1880s, but it is still found in some range on New Caledonia and recent population estimates believe that there are over 5000 birds left. The main threats to the horned parakeet are the

black rat The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...

, the

wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

, the introduced

Rusa deer The Javan rusa or Sunda sambar (''Rusa timorensis'') is a deer native to Indonesia and East Timor. Introduced populations exist in a wide variety of locations in the Southern Hemisphere. Taxonomy Seven subspecies of the Javan rusa are recognis ...

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

, La Nina (wet) years, and Psittacine beak and feather disease, a severe virus which is known to affect ~42 species of parrots. Humans poaching the birds for local trade is rare, because the birds' nests are difficult to find, and more importantly, there are no ingrained local customs regarding keeping birds as pets. The horned parakeet is listed by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

as Vulnerable, due to their restricted range and small, declining population size. These parrots are listed as

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

I as of year 2000, meaning all international commerce regarding the species is prohibited. In 2014, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

listed the species as Annex A, which means all intra-EU trade is prohibited. The parrots are also fully protected under New Caledonian law.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q515035

horned parakeet The horned parakeet (''Eunymphicus cornutus'') is a species of parrot in the genus '' Eunymphicus'', in the family Psittaculidae. It is a medium-sized parrot endemic to New Caledonia. It is called "horned" because it has two black feathers that ...

Endemic birds of New Caledonia