The Mindoro racket-tail (''Prioniturus mindorensis'') 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 Psittacoide ...

in the

Psittaculinae The parrot subfamily Psittaculinae consists of three tribes: the Polytelini with three genera, the Psittaculini or Asian psittacines, and the pygmy parrots of the Micropsittini tribe.Joseph L., Alicia Toon, Erin E. Schirtzinger, Timothy F. Wrig ...

family. It was formerly considered conspecific with the

blue-crowned racket-tail The blue-crowned racket-tail (''Prioniturus discurus'') is a parrot found on all the larger islands of the Philippines except Palawan and Panay islands. It is 27 cm, basically green with a blue crown, bluish undertail, whitish beak, and dar ...

(''Prioniturus discurus''). It is endemic to the island of

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and it occurs in tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss and trapping for the

cage-bird trade Wildlife trade refers to the of products that are derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, ti ...

Description and Taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project ...

describes the bird as "A medium-sized parrot of lowland and foothill forest on Mindoro. The two central tail feathers have extended shafts ending in a racket shape. Overall green in color, darker on the back and paler below, with deeper green on the head, a deep blue central crown, and a dark blue hind-crown and edge to the wing. Note the pale bill. Occurs together with Blue-naped Parrot, but is smaller and lacks the thick red bill. Voice includes various squeals and grating calls." Females have shorter "rackets". It eats berries, seeds and nuts. Like all other Racket-tails, they are cavity nesters.

Habitat and Conservation Status

It inhabits mainly tropica; moist lowland forest but has been known to inhabit moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

up to 1,670 meters above sea level bHas been to known to visit cultivated areas. IUCN has assessed this bird as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

with its population being estimated as 2,500 to 9,999 mature individuals. It is threatened by habitat loss through legal and

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corruption, corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, o ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

road construction A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

or ''kaingin'' and trapping for both food and the pet trade. By 1988, extensive deforestation on Mindoro had reduced forest cover to a mere 120 km², of which only a small proportion is below this species's upper altitudinal limit. The lowland forest that does remain is highly fragmented. Slash-and-burn cultivation, occasional selective logging and rattan collection threaten the forest fragments that still support the species. Dynamite blasting for marble is an additional threat to forest at Puerto Galera. Conservation actions proposed are to survey to quantify the population. Study the species's habitat requirements. Assess the level of threat from trapping pressure. Use remote sensing techniques to track land-use change on Mindoro. Carry out awareness-raising activities to reduce trapping activities.

References

Mindoro racket-tail Birds of Mindoro Mindoro racket-tail Mindoro racket-tail {{Parrot-stub