The Guadeloupe parakeet (Psittacara labati) is a hypothetical species of parrot that would have been endemic to Guadeloupe.

Guadeloupe parakeet
1722 illustration by Labat of a Guadeloupe parakeet at the top right, with a Guadeloupe amazon and a Lesser Antillean macaw
Scientific classification Edit this classification
(disputed)
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Psittacara
Species:
P. labati
Binomial name
Psittacara labati
(Rothschild, 1905)
Location of Guadeloupe

Description

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Jean-Baptiste Labat described a population of small parrots living on Guadeloupe:

Those of Guadaloupe are about the size of a blackbird, entirely green, except a few small red feathers, which they have on their head. Their bill is white. They are very gentle, loving, and learn to speak easily.[2]

 
Hypothetical restoration by John Gerrard Keulemans

Taxonomy

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They were later named Conurus labati, and are now called the Guadeloupe parakeet. It has been postulated to be a separate species based on little evidence. There are no specimens or remains of the extinct parrots. Their taxonomy may never be fully elucidated, and so their postulated status as a separate species is hypothetical.[3] It is presumed to have gone extinct in the late 18th century, if it did indeed exist.

References

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  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Psittacara labati". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22728696A94993878. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728696A94993878.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Rothschild, Lionel Walter (1907). Extinct Birds: An Attempt to Unite in One Volume a Short Account of Those Birds which Have Become Extinct in Historical Times.
  3. ^ Fuller, Errol (1987). Extinct Birds. Penguin Books (England). p. 131. ISBN 0-670-81787-2.