vasa parrot

The genus Coracopsis was introduced in 1832 by the German ornithologist Johann Georg Wagler.{{ cite journal | last=Wagler | first=Johann Georg | author-link=Johann Georg Wagler | year=1832 | title=Monographia Psittacorum | journal=Abhandlungen der mathematisch-physikalischen Classe, Königlich-Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften | volume=1 | pages=463–750 [501] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11355761 }} The type species was designated as the lesser vasa parrot by George Robert Gray in 1840.{{ cite book | last=Gray | first=George Robert | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1840 | title=A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus | location=London | publisher=R. and J.E. Taylor | page=50 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13668967 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1937 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=3 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=229 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14477944 }}

The genus contains four species:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Parrots, cockatoos | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/parrots/| publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | accessdate=3 September 2021 }}

{{Species table |genus=Coracopsis |authority-name= Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |species-count=four|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row

|name= Greater vasa parrot|binomial=Coracopsis vasa

|image=File:Coracopsis vasa -Madagascar-8.jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Shaw |authority-year=1812 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= Madagascar and the Comoros.

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on

|Coracopsis vasa comorensis, (Peters, W, 1854)

|Coracopsis vasa drouhardi, Lavauden, 1929

|Coracopsis vasa vasa, (Shaw, 1812)

}}

}}

{{Species table/row

|name= Lesser vasa parrot or Black parrot|binomial=Coracopsis nigra

|image=File:Kleiner Vasa Papagei.jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= Madagascar

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Two subspecies |bullets=on

|Coracopsis nigra libs, Bangs, 1927

|Coracopsis nigra nigra, (Linnaeus, 1758)

}}

}}

{{Species table/row

|name= Comoros black parrot{{cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/62292583 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129222950/http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/62292583 |archive-date=2015-01-29 |title=Comoro Parrot (Coracopsis sibilans) - BirdLife species factsheet}} |binomial=Coracopsis sibilans

|image= |image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Milne-Edwards & Oustalet |authority-year=1885 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= the Comoros

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= NT

|population=

|direction=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name= Seychelles black parrot |binomial=Coracopsis barklyi

|image=File:Black parrot Seychelles.jpg |image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Newton |authority-year=1867 |authority-not-original=

|range= the Seychelles

|range-image=

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= VU

|population=

|direction=

}}

{{Species table/end}}

A 2011 genetic study found the Mascarene parrot from Réunion to be nested among the subspecies of the lesser vasa parrot from Madagascar and nearby islands, and therefore not related to the Psittacula parrots. It also found that the Mascarene parrot line diverged 4.6 to 9 million years ago, prior to the formation of Réunion, indicating this must have happened elsewhere.{{Cite journal | last1 = Kundu | first1 = S. | last2 = Jones | first2 = C. G. | last3 = Prys-Jones | first3 = R. P. | last4 = Groombridge | first4 = J. J. | title = The evolution of the Indian Ocean parrots (Psittaciformes): Extinction, adaptive radiation and eustacy | doi = 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.09.025 | journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume = 62 | issue = 1 | pages = 296–305 | year = 2011| pmid = 22019932}} The cladogram accompanying the study is shown below:

{{clade|style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%

|label1= E

|1={{clade

|label1=

|1={{clade

|1=Coracopsis vasa drouhardii (W Madagascar)

|2=Coracopsis vasa vasa (E Madagascar) }}

|label2=

|2={{clade

|1=Coracopsis nigra barklyi (Praslin Island (Seychelles))

|label2=

|2={{clade

|1=Mascarinus mascarinus (Reunion (Mascarenes))

|label2=

|2={{clade

|1=Coracopsis nigra siblans (Comoros)

|label2=

|2={{clade

|1=Coracopsis nigra nigra (E Madagascar)

|2=Coracopsis nigra libs (W Madagascar) }} }} }} }} }} }}

Another group of scientists later acknowledged the finding, but pointed out that the sample might have been damaged, and that further testing was needed before the issue could be fully resolved. They also noted that if Mascarinus was confirmed to be embedded within the genus Coracopsis, the latter would become a junior synonym, since the former name is older.{{cite journal | last1 = Joseph | first1 = L. | last2 = Toon | first2 = A. | last3 = Schirtzinger | first3 = E. E. | last4 = Wright | first4 = T. F. | last5 = Schodde | first5 = R. | title = A revised nomenclature and classification for family-group taxa of parrots (Psittaciformes) | journal = Zootaxa | series = 3205 | year = 2012 | volume = 3205 | pages = 26–40 | doi = 10.11646/zootaxa.3205.1.2 }} Hume has expressed surprise by these findings, due to the anatomical similarities between the Mascarene parrot and other parrots from the islands that are believed to be psittaculines.{{cite book

| last1 = Hume

| first1 = J. P.

| first2 = M.

| last2 = Walters

|pages= 177–178

|year= 2012

|location= London

|title= Extinct Birds

|publisher= A & C Black

|isbn=978-1-4081-5725-1}} However, a later study found that the placement of Mascarinus within Coracopsis was likely a result of cross-contamination of genetic material during the study, debunking this placement, and supporting them as being two distinct, unrelated genera within different subfamilies.{{Cite journal|last1=Podsiadlowski|first1=Lars|last2=Gamauf|first2=Anita|last3=Töpfer|first3=Till|date=February 2017|title=Revising the phylogenetic position of the extinct Mascarene Parrot Mascarinus mascarin (Linnaeus 1771) (Aves: Psittaciformes: Psittacidae)|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28017858/|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=107|pages=499–502|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.12.022|issn=1095-9513|pmid=28017858}}

They are notable in the parrot world for their peculiar appearance, which includes extremely truncated bodies with long necks, black to grey feathers and a pink beak.

The skin of both female and male vasas turns yellow during the breeding season, and there is often feather loss. However, in females the feather loss can result in complete baldness. Another interesting feature of the females breeding physiology is when her feathers, which are usually black to grey, turn brown without a moult. This is caused by the redistribution of melanin, which is the pigment that makes the vasas' feathers black.

In addition to their appearance they possess aspects of their physiology that make them unique amongst parrots. Vasa chicks are known to hatch after only 18–20 days of incubation, which is highly irregular as parrots of the vasa size range tend to take up to 30 days to hatch.

The male vasas' cloaca is able to evert into a hemipenis, which becomes erect during mating – a feature unique to the genus. This phallus is associated with prolonged matings enforced by a copulatory tie{{Clarify|date=October 2012}}.{{Cite journal

| last = Ekstrom | first = J. M. M. |author2=Burke, T. |author3=Randrianaina, L. |author4=Birkhead, T. R.

| title = Unusual sex roles in a highly promiscuous parrot: the Greater Vasa Parrot Caracopsis vasa

| journal = Ibis | volume = 149 | issue = 2 | pages = 313–320

| publisher = Wiley | date = 2007-01-22 | doi = 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2006.00632.x

}} Baby vasas possess pads on their beaks which when stimulated prompt a strong feeding response. These pads disappear after only a few weeks, however the feeding or 'weaning' reflex remains unusually strong well into adulthood. Often aviculturalists have to use a syringe to force food into the crops of young vasas as the intensity of the weaning reflex prevents them from being spoon fed.

Vasa parrots infected with the debilitating psittacine beak and feather disease are known to turn white, which, during the 1970s when the first wave of birds were exported into Europe and America, resulted in them being mistakenly advertised by importers as albinos.

{{Commons category|Coracopsis}}

• Kundu, S., C.G. Jones, R.P. Prys-Jones, and J.J. Groombridge. 2012. The evolution of the Indian Ocean parrots (Psittaciformes): extinction, adaptive radiation and eustacy. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 62: 296–305.

{{Reflist}}

{{Psittacopasseres|Ps.|state=collapsed}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q869053}}

Category:Parrots