Newton's Parakeets / Rodriguez Ring-necked Parakeets

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The Newton's Parakeet (Psittacula exsul) was a small parrot endemic to the forests of Rodrigues, Mauritius.

It was first recorded by François Leguat, who was the leader of a group of eight French Huguenots who colonised the island from 1691 to 1693.

He described the bird as abundant, good to eat and able to imitate speech - one that was tamed by them spoke French and Flemish, and they took it with them when they finally left the island for Mauritius.

Another description is found in the traveller's report Relation de l'Île Rodrigue, which was written by Julien Tafforet ion 1726. It was next mentioned by the French mathematician Alexandre Pingré, who travelled to Rodrigues in 1761 to view the transit of Venus. He noted that the bird had become scarce. A specimen was sent by Sir Edward Newton, a colonial administrator in Mauritius, to his brother Alfred, who officially described the bird in 1872.

The species epithet exsul, "exiled", refers to the refugee Leguat who gave the first testimony of the bird. The last living bird was seen in 1875. Two complete specimens survive, plus various subfossil bones. One is a female, another a young male.

This species differs from all others of its genus by having had a slate blue, not green, plumage; however, the early reports suggest that green birds also existed; whether there were two color morphs, or the green coloration was borne by recently-fledged birds, or whether at one time a short-lived colony of a related green species existed on Rodriguez cannot now be determined.

The species' extinction was presumably caused by a combination of habitat loss and hunting for food and as a crop pest.

Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org

Taxonomy & Relevant Data:

Species: Scientific: Psittacula exsul ... English: Newton's Parakeet, Rodriguez Ring-necked Parakeet ... Dutch: Rodriguez Edelparkiet ... German: Rodriguez Edelsittich ... French: Perruche de Newton CITES Status - EXTINCT

Distribution: Formerly could be found on the Island of Rodriguez, now extinct

Description: Psittacula exsul was probably green, with red wing-patches in the male, which also occurred in a bluish variation; only two skins remain of species, both belonging to blue form; general plumage greenish-blue with grey hue; breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts slightly paler; head darker and without grey tinge; fine black line between cere and eye; black stripes to cheek and black narrow band to neck adjoining bluish-green band; primaries greenish-blue; upperside to tail feathers bluish-green, underside grey; upper mandible red, lower mandible black; iris yellow; feet grey. Female with narrow black stripe to forehead; black stripes to cheek not extending to side of neck; crown washed with grey; upper mandible black. ... Length: 40 cm (15.5 ins)

Related Web Resources: Lexicon of Parrots

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