Paradise Parrot Psephotellus pulcherrimus Scientific name definitions

27 cm. Frontal band  red, area round eye yellow, crown  to nape black, rest of head  and breast turquoise blue with greener tinging on cheeks and central breast; belly to undertail coverts red  ; mantle, back and wings mid-brown, darker on primaries, and with median wing coverts red  ; rump and uppertail coverts turquoise blue; tail bronze tinged blue, outer feathers edged bluish white. Female has head and breast buff with pale orange edging, dark mid-crown, pale blue underparts, reduced red in wing; pale underwing stripe. Immature like female, male with some green on head.

Previously placed in genus Psephotus, or sometimes in Platycercus. Forms a species-group with Hooded Parrot (Psephotellus dissimilis) and Golden-shouldered Parrot (Psephotellus chrysopterygius). Monotypic.

Thought to have become extinct as a result of the drought of 1902 until rediscovered in 1918 (1 Chisholm, A.H. (1922). The “lost” Paradise Parrot. Emu 22(1): 4–17. Close ). Last confirmed observation in 1928; some credible reports continued into 1930s and 1940s (2 Olsen, P.D. (2007). Glimpses of Paradise: the Quest for the Beautiful Parrakeet. National Library of Australia, Canberra. Close ); a claim of five individuals observed in 1990 (3 Kiernan, C. (1993). Bird to watch: paradise on earth? Wingspan 11: 24–25. Close ), but species now regarded as extinct (4 Collar, N. J., M. J. Crosby, and A. J. Stattersfield (1994). Birds to Watch 2: the World List of Threatened Birds. BirdLife International Conservation Series 4. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K. Close ). Its demise resulted primarily from reduction in food supply caused by drought and overgrazing (2 Olsen, P.D. (2007). Glimpses of Paradise: the Quest for the Beautiful Parrakeet. National Library of Australia, Canberra. Close ); contributory factors include changes in fire frequencies and the spread of introduced prickly pears (Opuntia) (5 Joseph, L. (1988). A review of the conservation status of Australian parrots in 1987. Biol. Conserv. 46(4): 261–280. Close ), disease, trapping and egg-collecting (6 Garnett, S.T. (1992). Threatened and Extinct Birds of Australia. Royal Australasian Ornithologists’ Union & Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Melbourne. Close ), nest predation by both introduced and native species (1 Chisholm, A.H. (1922). The “lost” Paradise Parrot. Emu 22(1): 4–17. Close ), and clearance of Eucalyptus (3 Kiernan, C. (1993). Bird to watch: paradise on earth? Wingspan 11: 24–25. Close ). During the later stages of the species’ decline, inbreeding probably inhibited the fertility of individuals (7 Jerrard, C.H.H. (2008). Historical article: Paradise Parrot. Austral. Field Orn. 25(2): 59–68. Close ).

East Australia: central and southern (and possibly northern) Queensland; perhaps also northern New South Wales, but no confirmed records (2 Olsen, P.D. (2007). Glimpses of Paradise: the Quest for the Beautiful Parrakeet. National Library of Australia, Canberra. Close ).

Recorded in September, December and March. Nest a chamber  excavated in a terrestrial termitarium  , or occasionally in a sandy riverbank. Eggs  3–5.

EXTINCT. CITES I. Demise attributed to burning seeding grass to provide green growth for cattle, combined with the effects of drought, overgrazing, the spread of prickly pears, and possibly also disease, trapping and egg-collecting. Last certainly recorded in 1927.