The Lord Howe parakeet (''Cyanoramphus subflavescens''), also known as the Lord Howe red-fronted parakeet, is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

parrot

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea 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 Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

, part of

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 ...

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 was described as full species by Tommaso Salvadori in 1891, but subsequently it has been regarded as

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

red-crowned parakeet The red-crowned parakeet (''Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae''), also known as red-fronted parakeet and by its Māori language, Māori name of ,Parr, M., Juniper, T., D'Silva, C., Powell, D., Johnston, D., Franklin, K., & Restall, R. (2010). Parrots ...

. In 2012, the

IOC World Bird List ''Birds of the World: Recommended English Names'' is a paperback book written by Frank Gill and Minturn Wright on behalf of the International Ornithologists' Union. The book is an attempt to produce a standardized set of English names for all bi ...

recognised it as species.IOC world birdnames

Taxonomy

Pending molecular analysis, Christidis & Boles (2008) have suggested on biogeographical grounds that the taxon is likely to be most closely related to the

Norfolk Island green parrot The Norfolk parakeet (''Cyanoramphus cookii''), also called Tasman parakeet, Norfolk Island green parrot or Norfolk Island red-crowned parakeet, is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island (located betwe ...

(''Cyanoramphus cookii''), as either a subspecies of what they have tentatively called the Tasman parakeet (''Cyanoramphus cookii subflavescens''), or possibly a full species (''Cyanoramphus subflavescens'').

Description

Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae subflavescens

The Lord Howe parakeet was a medium-sized green parrot with a crimson cap and eye-stripe. Measurements of

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

s indicate that it was slightly larger than the nominate subspecies, as well as having yellower plumage and less extensive red markings on the head.

Extinction

The parrot was formerly abundant on the island, but was persecuted by the early settlers there because of its raids on their crops and gardens. It was last recorded in 1869. Only two specimens of the Lord Howe parakeet exist. They come from the

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...

collection, taken by

John MacGillivray John MacGillivray (18 December 1821 – 6 June 1867) was a Scottish naturalist, active in Australia between 1842 and 1867. MacGillivray was born in Aberdeen, the son of ornithologist William MacGillivray. He took part in three of the Royal Nav ...

in September 1853 on the voyage of HMS ''Herald'', and are held in the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

. Schodde, R.; & Mason, I.J. (1997). Aves (Columbidae to Coraciidae). ''In'' Houston, W.W.K. & Wells, A. (eds) ''Zoological Catalogue of Australia''. Vol. 37.2. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne. p.147.

Taxonomy

Description

Extinction

References

Further reading