Fig parrots (Cyclopsittini) are a small
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
of Australasian
parrots
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 W ...
, made up of five species in two
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
(''
Cyclopsitta
''Cyclopsitta'' is a genus of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It contains two species:
The genus name ''Cyclopsitta'' is a combination of the Greek name of the mythical Cyclops (a race of one-eyed Sicilian giants, whose name is a combinat ...
'' and ''
Psittaculirostris
''Psittaculirostris'' is a genus of parrots in the family Psittaculidae found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua ...
''). Fig parrots are found on and around the island of
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...
, within the territories of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, and tropical
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
.
[
]
Description
Fig parrots are small, stocky, arboreal parrots with short, wedge-shaped tails. They possess proportionately large, broad bills and smooth tongues. Sexual dimorphism is typically pronounced, with the exception of Coxen's fig parrot
Coxen's fig parrot (''Cyclopsitta diophthalma coxeni''), also known as the blue-browed, red-faced or southern fig parrot or lorilet, is one of the smallest and least known Australian parrots. It is a highly endangered subspecies of the doubl ...
(''Cyclopsitta diopthalma coxeni''). Those in the genus ''Cyclopsitta'' are generally smaller than those in ''Psittaculirostris''.[
Their preferred habitats are the tropical and subtropical ]rainforests
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest, ...
, though they can also be found foraging in the surrounding biomes. They can usually be seen flying swiftly in straight lines, well above the tree canopy.[
Their diets consist mainly of fruit, particularly their namesake figs. They may supplement these with a variety of other fruits and berries, along with nectar, pollen, insects, and larvae. Fig parrots appear to be capable of detecting the fig ]syconia
Syconium (plural ''syconia'') is the type of inflorescence borne by figs (genus ''Ficus''), formed by an enlarged, fleshy, hollow receptacle with multiple ovaries on the inside surface. In essence, it is really a fleshy stem with a number of flo ...
that have been implanted with growing fig wasps
Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Most are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, while the ...
, and targeting these for their extra nutritional content. They remember particular fruit trees, and return to them repeatedly over months and years.
Taxonomy
The fig parrot group was first proposed in 1891 at family rank, as Cyclopsittacidae, from the type genus ''Cyclopsitta''.lories and lorikeets
Loriini is a tribe of small to medium-sized arboreal parrots characterized by their specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar of various blossoms and soft fruits, preferably berries. The species form a monophyletic group within the ...
(Loriini) as the subfamily Loriinae
Loriinae is a subfamily of psittacine birds, one of the five subfamilies that make up the family Psittaculidae. It consists of three tribes, the lories and lorikeets ( Loriini), the budgerigar ( Melopsittacini) and the fig parrots ( Cyclopsittini ...
.
Tribe Cyclopsittini
See also
* Blue-fronted fig parrot
The blue-fronted fig parrot, also referred to as the blue-browed fig parrot, is a putative undescribed fig parrot said to inhabit the rugged rainforest-covered border ranges of subtropical south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South W ...
References
Parrots
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