The elegant parrot (''Neophema elegans'') 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.
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 els ...
to
Australia.
Naming and taxonomy
The elegant parrot was called ''carteri'', ''bilgir'', or ''koolyederong'' by Aboriginal peoples.
Its English name came from the renowned ornithologist and artist
John Gould
John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...
in 1837, its specific name
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
for "elegant". It is one of six species of grass parrot in the genus ''Neophema'', and within it a member of the subgenus ''Neonanodes''. Its common name is elegant parrot, but it has also been called elegant parakeet, elegant grass parakeet, and grass parrot in the past.
Description
The elegant parrot is long and predominantly golden olive in colour with a dark blue frontal band line above with lighter blue, while abdomen and vent are yellow. The female is a duller shade of olive all over and has a narrower blue frontal band. The wings are predominantly olive with outer flight feathers dark blue. The yellow-edged tail has shades of olive and blue. The bill and legs are grey and the eyes dark brown. Juveniles are duller and lack the frontal bands.
[
]
Distribution and habitat
The elegant parrot is found in two disjunct regions, one across southwestern Australia from Moora in the north to Merredin and Esperance in the east, and in southeastern South Australia (including Kangaroo Island) north to Marree, and east into western Victoria.[
]
Breeding
Breeding season is anywhere from July to November or after rainfall, with one or occasionally two broods raised depending on rainfall. A hollow higher than above the ground in a tree, usually a eucalypt along a watercourse or in a stringybark forest, is utilised for nesting, and a clutch of four to six round white eggs measuring 21 x 18 mm is laid there.
Gallery
File:Neophema elegans qtl1.jpg, Captive at Walsrode Bird Park, Germany
File:Elegant Parrots.jpg, Elegant parrots in captivity
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q570795
elegant parrot
Birds of South Australia
Birds of Western Australia
Endemic birds of Australia
elegant parrot
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot