Reischek's parakeet
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2024}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Cyanoramphus hochstetteri (AM LB14722-1).jpg
| image_caption =
| status = RR
| status_system = NZTCS
| genus = Cyanoramphus
| species = hochstetteri
| authority = (Reischek, 1889)
| range_map =New Zealand - Antipodes Islands location.svg
| range_map_caption = {{leftlegend|#008100|Native range}}
}}
Reischek's parakeet (Cyanoramphus hochstetteri) is a small green parrot confined to {{Convert|21|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} Antipodes Island, one of New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, which it shares with a congener, the larger Antipodes parakeet.
Taxonomy
The common name commemorates pioneering naturalist and collector Andreas Reischek, who collected specimens of the parrot in 1888 and who named it Platycercus hochstetteri for the son of his friend, Austrian geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter, who made a geological survey of New Zealand.Reischek, A. (1888). Notes on the Islands to the South of New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 21: 378-389.[http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_21/rsnz_21_00_003590.html]
Reischek’s parakeet was previously considered to be a subspecies of the red-crowned parakeet C. novaezelandiae, which it resembles in appearance, but was later lumped with the Macquarie parakeet from Macquarie Island in a 2001 paper by Wee Ming Boon and others following an examination of the molecular systematics of the genus which found that many of the red-crowned parakeet subspecies should be elevated to full species.Boon, Wee Ming; Kearvell, Jonathan C.; Daugherty, Charles H.; & Chambers, Geoffrey K. (2001). Molecular systematics and conservation of kakariki (Cyanoramphus spp.). Science for Conservation 176. Dept of Conservation:Wellington, New Zealand. {{ISBN|0-478-22031-6}} However, subsequently the provenance of Boon et al.’s supposed Macquarie Island material was shown to be mistaken, originating from the Antipodes Islands instead.Scofield, R. Paul. (2005). The supposed Macquarie Parakeet in the collection of Canterbury Museum. Notornis 52(2): 117-120Chambers, Geoffrey K.; & Boon, Wee Ming. (2005). Molecular systematics of Macquarie Island and Reischek's parakeets. Notornis 52 (4): 249–250.[http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_52-2005/Notornis_52_4_249.pdf]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Behaviour
=Feeding=
Reischek’s parakeet feeds on tussock flowers, leaves, seeds, berries as well as invertebrates such as fly larvae in the guano of the penguin colonies. It also scavenges on the carcasses of petrels and albatrosses.Greene, Terry C. (1999). Aspects of the ecology of Antipodes Parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor) and Reischek's Parakeet (C. novaezelandiae hochstetteri) on Antipodes Island, October - November 1995. Notornis 46: 301-310.[http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_46-1999/Notornis_46_2_301.pdf#search=%22storm-petrel%22] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628043631/http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_46-1999/Notornis_46_2_301.pdf |date=2007-06-28 }}Warham, J.; & Bell, B.D. (1979). The birds of the Antipodes Islands, New Zealand. Notornis 26(2):121-170.
Conservation
Though the population of Reischek's parakeet is healthy, its limited distribution makes it potentially vulnerable to events such as the accidental introduction of rodents to its island home. On the New Zealand Threatened Species classification it is listed as ‘range restricted’.[http://www.terranature.org/parakeetAntipodes.htm TerraNature: Reischek’s Parakeet]
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Birds of the Antipodes Islands