Paradise parrot

Paradise parrot
Live individual photographed by the entrance to its nest, Burnett River, Queensland, 1922
Conservation status
Extinct (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Superfamily:	Psittacoidea
Family:	Psittaculidae
Subfamily:	Platycercinae
Tribe:	Platycercini
Genus:	Psephotus
Species:	P. pulcherrimus
Binomial name
Psephotus pulcherrimus (Gould, 1845)

The paradise parrot (Psephotus pulcherrimus) was a colourful medium-sized parrot native to the grassy woodlands of the Queensland - New South Wales border area of eastern Australia. Once moderately common within its fairly restricted range, the last live bird was seen in 1927. Extensive and sustained searches in the years since then have failed to produce any reliable evidence of it, and it is unknown if it is extinct or not.

Paradise parrots lived in pairs or small family groups, making their nests in hollowed-out termite mounds and similar places, often at or near ground level, and feeding, so far as is known, almost exclusively on grass seeds.

The plumage was extraordinarily colorful, even by parrot standards, a mixture of turquoise, aqua, scarlet, black and brown, and the tail almost the same length as the body—something difficult to understand in a bird that, although a rapid, undulating flyer, spent almost all of its time on the ground.

The reasons for the sudden decline of the paradise parrot remain speculative. Possibilities include overgrazing, land clearing, changed fire regimes, hunting by bird collectors, and predation by introduced mammals like cats and dogs. It became rare towards the end of the 19th century and was thought extinct by 1915. A series of searches turned up a few more individuals over the next decade, but the last confirmed sighting was on 14 September 1927.

• Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.110072 - Psephotus pulcherrimus (Gould, 1845) - Paradise Parrot - specimen - video.webm

  Rotating bird skin video of Psephotus pulcherrimus (Gould, 1845). Naturalis Biodiversity Center, acquisition of 1862

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  Painting from 1884

• Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.110113 - Psephotus pulcherrimus (Gould, 1845) - Paradise Parrot - specimen - video.webm

  Rotating bird skeleton video. Naturalis, acquisition of 1890

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  Two individuals by a nest, 1922

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  Nest, 1922

References

• Glimpses of Paradise: The Quest for the Beautiful Parakeet, Penny Olsen ISBN 978-0-642-27652-0, Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2007