Meek's pygmy parrot (''Micropsitta meeki''), also known as the yellow-breasted pigmy parrot, is a species of small parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea.

Taxonomy and etymology

This bird is one of seven named in honour of the English naturalist

Albert Stewart Meek Albert Stewart Meek (26 October 1871 – 1 October 1943) was an English bird collector and naturalist. Biography Meek was born on 26 October 1871 in Bow, London, the son of a merchant in natural history. In 1893 he travelled to Australia and ...

, who collected many previously unknown birds and insects from Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific region. Many of these are now in the Natural History Museum in London. The two subspecies are ''M. m. meeki'' Rothschild & Hartert, 1914, and ''M. m. proxima'' Rothschild & Hartert, 1924.

Description

Pygmy parrots are the smallest members of the

true parrots The true parrots are about 350 species of hook-billed, mostly herbivorous birds forming the superfamily Psittacoidea, one of the three superfamilies in the biological order Psittaciformes (parrots). True parrots are widespread, with species in ...

superfamily. They are fast-moving, emerald-green birds with brilliant flashes of colour. Meek's pygmy parrot has a cap, forehead, nape, and face of mid-brown with a yellow throat and underparts. In ''M. m. meeki'', the yellow colouring extends to the ear coverts, while in ''M. m. proxima'', it also extends as a narrowing band of yellow horizontally above the eyes. In the latter subspecies, the face and nape are a paler brown. The remainder of the plumage is green, slightly darker on the back and wings, and paler on the belly. The beak and large feet are brown.

Distribution

Meek's pygmy parrot is known from the Admiralty Islands, a group of eighteen islands in the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

to the north of Papua New Guinea. It is said to be common on the islands of Lou and Manus and the population appears to be stable so it is listed as being of " Least Concern" in the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

Biology

Meek's pygmy parrots have not been much studied. They spend their day clambering about among the foliage of trees using their beaks, large feet, and stiffened tail feathers for support. Their diet is believed to be insects, fungi,

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es. Attempts to keep pygmy parrots in captivity have not met with success. This may be due to the birds suffering from stress or to a lack of understanding of their dietary requirements.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1109825 Meek's pygmy parrot Taxa named by Walter Rothschild Taxa named by Ernst Hartert Birds of Papua New Guinea Meek's pygmy parrot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot