Edwards's fig parrot (''Psittaculirostris edwardsii''), also known as the scarlet-cheeked fig parrot, 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 Psittaco ...

in the family

Psittaculidae Psittaculidae is a family containing Old World parrots. It consists of five subfamilies: Agapornithinae, Loriinae, Platycercinae Platycercinae is a subfamily of birds belonging to the family Psittaculidae that inhabit Oceania. It consists of ...

found in humid lowland forests in north-eastern

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 Torr ...

. The adult male is predominantly green with red breast and cheeks, yellow ear coverts, and yellowish crown.

Taxonomy

Edwards's fig parrot was first described by French zoologist

Émile Oustalet Jean-Frédéric Émile Oustalet (24 August 1844 – 23 October 1905 Saint-Cast) was a French zoologist.Hellmayr CE (1906). "Emile Oustalet bituary. ''Ornithologische Monatsberichte'' 14 (4): 57-59Scan Oustalet was born at Montbéliard, in the de ...

in 1885, and named in honour of French naturalist

Alphonse Milne-Edwards Alphonse Milne-Edwards (Paris, 13 October 1835 – Paris, 21 April 1900) was a French mammalogist, ornithologist, and carcinologist. He was English in origin, the son of Henri Milne-Edwards and grandson of Bryan Edwards, a Jamaican planter who se ...

. It is one of three species in the genus '' Psittaculirostris''.

Description

A medium-sized parrot with a stocky build and short tail, it measures in length. The adult male has bright green wings, back, and tail. The feathers of the cheeks and ear coverts are long and narrow, giving the face a ruffed appearance. The cheek feathers are red and the ear coverts golden-yellow. The throat and breast are red with a dark blue-black band on the upper breast. The bill is a dark grey-black and the eye (iris) red. The feet are dark grey. The adult female is similar, but has a wider blue-black band on the otherwise green-yellow breast. Immature birds resemble the female. Calls include a high-pitched ''screett'' or ''zseet'', and a short sharp ''ks'', described as "coins dropping on concrete".

Distribution and habitat

Edwards's fig parrot is restricted to northeastern New Guinea, where it is found from

Yos Sudarso Bay Yos Sudarso Bay ( id, Teluk Yos Sudarso), known as Humboldt Bay from 1827 to 1968, is a small bay on the north coast of New Guinea, about 50 kilometers west of the border between Indonesia's province of Papua and the country of Papua New Guinea. ...

and Vanimo east to the

Huon Gulf Huon Gulf is a large gulf in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is bordered by Huon Peninsula in the north. Both are named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. Huon Gulf is a part of the Solomon Sea. Its northern boundary is marked by C ...

. Common within its range, it is found in lowland forests and cleared areas.

Behaviour

Birds are found in ones or twos, although groups of up to 35 individuals may gather at fruit trees. Their predominantly green plumage makes them hard to spot against foliage. They have been recorded feeding with double-eyed fig parrots, fruit pigeons (''

Ptilinopus The fruit doves, also known as fruit pigeons, are a genus (''Ptilinopus'') of birds in the pigeon and dove family (Columbidae). These colourful, frugivorous doves are found in forests and woodlands in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is a large gen ...

''), honeyeaters, and starlings. They consume fruit including figs. Nesting takes place in small hollows high up in large trees, although little is known about this aspect of their behaviour.

References

External links

World Parrot Trust
Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles {{Taxonbar, from=Q647537 Edwards's fig parrot Birds of New Guinea Edwards's fig parrot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot