Family Parrots (Psittacidae)
Least Concern
Papuan King-parrot (Alisterus chloropterus)
Taxonomy
French: Perruche à ailes vertes German: Papuasittich Spanish: Papagayo papú
Taxonomy:
Aprosmictus chloropterus
E. P. Ramsay
, 1879,Goldie River, New Guinea
.
Subspecies and Distribution
A. c. moszkowskii
(Reichenow, 1911) – N New Guinea from E Geelvink Bay to C North Coastal Ranges.
A. c. callopterus
(D’Albertis & Salvadori, 1879) – WC New Guinea from Weyland Mts to W Central Highlands.
A. c. chloropterus
(E. P. Ramsay, 1879) – E New Guinea E from E Central Highlands.
Descriptive notes
36 cm; 138–190 g. Similar to A. amboinensis but hindcrown and nape deep blue, mantle and scapulars black, lesser and median wing-coverts greenish yellow... read more
Voice
Commonest vocalization a repeated clear metallic whistle, e.g. “kwee...kwee...kwee”, either... read more
Habitat
Shaded interior of hill rain forest, middle storey to lower canopy; less commonly in monsoon forest... read more
Food and feeding
Berries, small seeds of composites, Casuarina fruit.
Breeding
No clear information; gonadal development in Jun and Jul, and a juvenile taken in Sept.
Movements
Apparently sedentary.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. CITES II. Generally scarce and in low numbers, though locally common and probably underrecorded owing to highly unobtrusive behaviour; thus in one... read more
Forms a species-pair with A. amboinensis. Females of moszkowskii have male-type plumage (at least 3), but the subspecies is not otherwise known to differ from the others; study needed. Form wilhelminae (from Kaparé R, in W New Guinea) is included within callopterus. Three subspecies recognized.