The Kermadec red-crowned parakeet (''Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae cyanurus''), also known as the Kermadec red-fronted parakeet or Kermadec parakeet, is a

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 ...

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 Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Kermadec Islands The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total are ...

in the south-west

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It is a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

red-fronted parakeet The red-crowned parakeet (''Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae''), also known as red-fronted parakeet and by its Māori name of kākāriki,Parr, M., Juniper, T., D'Silva, C., Powell, D., Johnston, D., Franklin, K., & Restall, R. (2010). Parrots: A Guid ...

, and sometimes considered a full species. It is also the first documented example of a parrot recolonising an island after the removal of invasive predators.

Description

The Kermadec red-crowned parakeet is a medium-sized, predominantly green parrot with a crimson cap and eye-stripe. At about 29 cm in length, and 80-90 g in weight, it is significantly larger than the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, as well as having noticeably bluer

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

.Higgins (1999).AvianWeb

Distribution

The parakeet is found in the Kermadec group, which lies about 1000 km NNE of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, and 900 km SSW of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

s 'Ata Island. However, it was eradicated from the principal island in the group, 30 km² Raoul, in the early 19th century, with the last records of breeding there in 1836, as a consequence of the introduction by humans of

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s, and both

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

and

Polynesian rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), known to the Māori as ''kiore'', is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. The Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asia, a ...

s. It survived only on the nearby Herald Islets 2–4 km away, where there are about 50 breeding pairs, and on 3 km²

Macauley Island Macauley Island is a volcanic island in New Zealand's Kermadec Islands, approximately halfway between New Zealand's North Island and Tonga in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It is part of a larger submarine volcano that features a wide underwa ...

some 100 km to the south with about 8-10,000 birds.Ortiz-Catedral ''et al''. (2009).Greene ''et al''. (2004). For 172 years no breeding was recorded on Raoul, although occasional vagrant individual birds were seen. In 2008, following

island restoration The ecological restoration of islands, or island restoration, is the application of the principles of ecological restoration to islands and island groups. Islands, due to their isolation, are home to many of the world's endemic species, as well as ...

that included the removal of goats by 1986, the rats by 2004 and the cats by 2006, red-crowned parakeets were again recorded breeding on Raoul Island, presumably having recolonised it from the Herald Islets.

Behaviour

The parakeets are normally seen in pairs or small groups outside the breeding season. They may form flocks, though some pairs remain alone through the year. They forage on or near the ground, congregating at water sources to drink and bathe. Flocks will occasionally fly to neighbouring islands to forage.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{Authority control Kermadec red-crowned parakeet Birds of the Kermadec Islands Endemic birds of New Zealand Kermadec red-crowned parakeet