The Norfolk parakeet (''Cyanoramphus cookii''), also called Tasman parakeet, Norfolk Island green parrot or Norfolk Island red-crowned parakeet, 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 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

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 else ...

to Norfolk Island (located between Australia,

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 ...

and New Caledonia in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

Taxonomy

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother ...

described the Norfolk parakeet in 1859 as ''Platycercus Cookii'', from a specimen in William Bullock's museum, and recorded it as from New Zealand. The species name honours James Cook, who reported the species on Norfolk Island when he landed there in 1774, noting it was the same as those occurring in New Zealand. In 1862, Gray described a specimen from Norfolk Island as ''Platycercus rayneri'', collected by a Mr Rayner. In 1891, Italian ornithologist

Tommaso Salvadori Count Adelardo Tommaso Salvadori Paleotti (30 September 1835 – 9 October 1923) was an Italian zoologist and ornithologist. Biography Salvadori was born in Porto San Giorgio, son of Count Luigi Salvadori and Ethelyn Welby, who was English. His ...

confirmed the two taxa as synonymous and coming from Norfolk Island. It was long considered a subspecies of the

red-crowned 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 ...

. Ornithologists Alfred North (1893) and Graeme Phipps (1981) noted that the Norfolk parakeet was significantly larger than the red-fronted parakeet. Phipps added that further investigation was needed into their status and conservation. DNA analysis in 2001 showed that it was an early offshoot from the other parakeets in the genus ''Cyanoramphus'', with only the New Caledonian and Chatham parakeet more divergent. "Norfolk parakeet" has been designated the official name by the

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC). It is also known as Norfolk Island green parrot, and locally as green parrot. The name "Tasman parakeet" is used by ornithologists

Les Christidis Leslie Christidis (born 30 May 1959), also simply known as Les Christidis, is an Australian ornithologist. His main research field is the evolution and systematics of birds. He has been director of Southern Cross University National Marine Scienc ...

and

Walter Boles Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

on the argument that this species and the Lord Howe red-crowned parakeet (''Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae subflavescens'') are probably a single species for which they use biogeographical arguments. Tasman is used for other species with the same distribution and they propose that name for that reason. However, the latter subspecies was not included in the genus-wide phylogenetic reconstruction using DNA sequences, and the lumping of the species should be considered tentative.

Distribution and habitat

Originally found throughout Norfolk Island (to which it is

), it vanished from much of its range until by 1908 it was restricted to forest around Mount Pitt in the northwestern corner of the Island. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are native rain

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, from which it ventures into surrounding

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s and orchards.

Diet

Seeds make up over half the Norfolk parakeet's diet, particularly in winter. Five species make up 85% of its diet, including the Norfolk pine (''

Araucaria heterophylla ''Araucaria heterophylla'' (synonym ''A. excelsa'') is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine (or Norfolk pine) implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific ...

''), niau palm (''

Rhopalostylis baueri ''Rhopalostylis baueri'' is a species of palm native to Norfolk Island ( Australia) and to the Kermadec Islands (New Zealand). Norfolk Island is the type locality. The common names on Norfolk Island are 'Norfolk Island palm' or 'niau'. In New Ze ...

''), ake ake (''

Dodonaea viscosa ''Dodonaea viscosa'', also known as the broadleaf hopbush, is a species of flowering plant in the '' Dodonaea'' (hopbush) genus that has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa, the Americas, sout ...

''), as well as introduced African olive ( ''Olea europaea'' subsp. ''cuspidata'') and cherry guava (''

Psidium cattleyanum ''Psidium cattleyanum (World Plants : Psidium cattleianum)'', commonly known as Cattley guava, strawberry guava or cherry guava, is a small tree (2–6 m tall) in the Myrtaceae (myrtle) family. The species is named in honour of English hor ...

'').

Threats

Once a common species, the Norfolk parakeet had dwindled to under 50 birds by the late 1970s. Factors contributing to its decline include

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, particularly of large old trees with suitable hollows for breeding, killing of eggs and young by rats and cats, shooting by early settlers, and competition for nest sites by introduced crimson rosellas and common starlings. In 1983 a captive breeding program was commenced. Although it was not successful, it sparked interest in the bird's fate in the people of Norfolk Island. Between 1987 and 2000, a concerted effort to reduce rat and cat populations by trapping, and construction of nesting boxes designed to keep out rats increased parrot numbers, with around 250 young fledged. However, numbers of Norfolk parakeets were difficult to assess and concern was raised between 2009 and 2012 that it might be declining again. A census in 2009 estimated a count of 240 birds. It is only found in

Norfolk Island National Park Norfolk Island National Park is a protected area of located at in the South Pacific Ocean, about off the East coast of Australia. The park’s area includes the Mount Pitt section on the namesake Norfolk Island with an area of / , as well a ...

and the surrounding area. Historically it would have been preyed on by the

brown goshawk The brown goshawk (''Accipiter fasciatus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found in Australia and surrounding islands. Description Its upperparts are grey with a chestnut collar; its underparts are mainly rufous, f ...

until this species went extinct on the island in about 1790.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1066559 Birds of Norfolk Island Cyanoramphus Endangered fauna of Australia Birds described in 1859 Taxa named by George Robert Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN