The ground parrot (''Pezoporus wallicus'') is a parrot endemic to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is one of only four ground-dwelling parrots in the world, the others being the closely related night parrot (''Pezoporus occidentalis''), the Antipodes parakeet (''Cyanoramphus unicolor''), and the flightless kākāpō (''Strigops habroptilus'') from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The colouration of the two ''Pezoporus'' species and the kākāpō is similar – yellowish green with darker barring, somewhat reminiscent of the head and back of the wild-type budgerigar. When disturbed, a ground parrot flies swiftly just above the ground before dropping back into the vegetation. The presence of the bird is often only revealed by its characteristic dusk and dawn call, a clear whistling sequence of notes which rise in pitch before fading. It is silent in flight.
The IOC World Bird List
currently recognises three subspecies; the eastern ground parrot (subsp. ''wallicus''), the western ground parrot or Kyloring (subsp. ''flaviventris)'' and the Tasmanian ground parrot. (subsp. ''leachi'').

Description

The ground parrot is a medium-sized parrot, growing up to 30 cm long and weighing approximately 80 grams. It is distinctive, with grass green plumage, black streaking on the head and hindneck, prominent pale-yellow wing bars and black and yellow barring on the abdomen, thighs and under-tail coverts. The irises are pale yellow, the bill is dark grey and the feet and legs are flesh-pink. They have a distinguishing bright red band above the cere. Males and females appear alike. Juveniles can be differentiated from adults in that they are slightly smaller, have duller yellow-olive plumage, absent red bands and thicker, bolder markings on the head and breast. When newly fledged, irises are dark grey-brown to brown in colour. The eastern and Tasmanian subspecies (''wallicus'' and ''leachi)'' differ from the western subspecies (''flaviventris'') in that they have thicker and more prominent black markings on the head, neck and belly.

Taxonomy and naming

This species belongs to genus '' Pezoporus,'' which also includes the night parrot ''(P. occidentalis).'' The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek word ''pezoporos'', meaning "walking, going on foot." ''Pezoporus'' belongs to the tribe

Pezoporini The tribe Pezoporini is the sister clade of the tribe Platycercini that contains the broad-tailed parrots. Taxonomy The inclusion of the following taxon is based on the paper by Joseph ''et al.'' (2012). * Genus ''Neophema'' ** Blue-winged parro ...

(ground parrots and allies) which includes '' Neophema'' and '' Neopsephotus''. It is part of parrot subfamily Platycercinae and family Psittaculidae, the Old World Parrots. There are currently three recognised subspecies of ''P. wallicus'' * ''P. w. flaviventris'' (North, 1911) - the western ground parrot or Kyloring, as known by its indigenous Noongar name. * ''P. w. wallicus'' (Kerr, 1792) - the eastern ground parrot ( nominate subspecies) * ''P. w. leachi'' (Matthews 1912) - the Tasmanian ground parrot The western ground parrot ''(P. w. flaviventris)'' was once considered a separate species from the nominate subspecies based on a mitochondrial DNA study conducted in 2010. However, due to minimal morphological differences between the two and the split being based only on a single mitochondrial gene, the two are now considered to be conspecific and are only recognised as separate subspecies.

Distribution and habitat

This species is endemic to Australia. Each subspecies occurs within its own geographically separated distribution. Subspecies ''wallicus,'' the eastern ground parrot, occurs in fragmented populations in coastal areas of south-eastern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and Victoria. It is distributed as far north as near Fraser or K'gari Island, and as far south as Portland. It was formerly present in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, but has since gone regionally extinct.Western Ground Parrot Project
". ''Birds Australia Western Australia''. Last modified 26 April 2008. The eastern ground parrot occurs mainly in dry or moist coastal heathland or sedgeland with a dense foliage cover and a high density of favoured food plants. Subspecies ''flaviventris,'' the western ground parrot, only occurs in two disjunct populations in southern

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, one in Fitzgerald River National Park, the other in Cape Arid National Park and Nuytsland Nature Reserve. It inhabits low, dry or swampy heathland near the coast, usually in areas that have been unburnt for long periods of time. Subspecies ''leachi, the'' Tasmanian ground parrot, is endemic to

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, which hosts the largest population of the species as a whole. The Tasmanian ground parrot population is suspected to consist of more than 100,000 birds.
". ''Ground Parrot ''Pezeporus wallicus'.

Breeding

The breeding season of the ground parrot generally occurs from July to December, though eggs have also been recorded in March. Unlike most Australian parrots which nest in tree hollows, this species nests on the ground under a low, dense cover of vegetation including sedges, ferns and shrubs such as '' Banksia'', '' Xanthorrhoea, Leptospermum'' and '' Empodisma.'' The nest is a shallow depression in dry, well-drained earth and is lined with leaves and stems. The eggs are glossy, white and oval-shaped, measuring 25.4-26.9 mm. Clutch size is usually 3-4, but can range from as few as 2 to up to 7. Eggs are incubated by the female alone during the 21-24 day incubation period. If the clutch fails, a second may be laid. The male will bring food to the brooding female and nestlings. After approximately 20-28 days, the chicks will fledge and remain near the nest and their father for at least three weeks.

Conservation status

Although the species is listed as "Least Concern" on 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 an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

due to the species' large distribution and population size as a whole, subspecies ''P. w. flaviventris'' has been listed as "

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

" on the EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna. It is estimated that there are fewer than 150 birds remaining in the wild, making it one of the rarest parrots in Australia. Subspecies ''P. w. wallicus'' has been listed as "Vulnerable" on both the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 in New South Wales and the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 in Queensland. In South Australia, it has been listed as " Endangered" on the list of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, despite being locally extinct. Its last confirmed sighting in South Australia was in Port MacDonnell in January 1945 The species is listed in "Appendix I" by CITES.

References

External links

World Parrot Trust
Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles {{Taxonbar, from=Q889662 Pezoporus Birds of New South Wales Birds of Tasmania Birds of Victoria (state) Endemic birds of Australia Birds described in 1792