ALISTERUS SCAPULARIS - (LICHTENSTEIN, 1818)
La Perruche royale (Alisterus scapularis) est une espèce de perruches endémiques de l'Est de l'Australie.
Sous-espèces
La Perruche royale est représentée par deux sous-espèces :
Alisterus scapularis scapularis ;
Alisterus scapularis minor, plus petite et généralement plus mince.
Description
Le plumage de la Perruche royale est vert pour les parties supérieures et rouge pour les inférieures. Le croupion est bleu. Les iris sont jaunes et les pattes grises. Cet oiseau mesure environ 43 cm.
Le dimorphisme sexuel est prononcé : le mâle possède une tête complètement rouge et un bec orange tandis que la femelle présente une tête et une poitrine vertes ainsi qu'un bec noir.
Les immatures ressemblent à la femelle à l'exception du bec et des iris bruns.
Répartition
La Perruche royale est présente sur la côte est de l'Australie du nord du Queensland au sud de Victoria. Elle est assez répandue mais a cependant disparu de certaines régions où l'Eucalyptus a été arraché pour faire place à des arbres non autochtones comme le Pin de Monterey Pinus radiata.
Captivité
La Perruche royale est bien connue dans les élevages même si elle n'est pas très répandue. La première reproduction a été enregistrée en 1880 en Allemagne.
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The Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis) is endemic to eastern Australia. It is found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion of the continent, including eucalyptus wooded areas in and directly adjacent to subtropical and temperate rainforest. They feed on fruits and seeds gathered from trees or on the ground.
Taxonomy
The Australian king parrot was first described by the German naturalist Martin Lichtenstein in 1818. The species belongs to the genus Alisterus, whose three members are known as king parrots. The genus is sometimes sunk into the genus Aprosmictus.
Two subspecies are recognised, which are differentiated by size:
Alisterus scapularis minor (Mathews, 1911)
Alisterus scapularis scapularis (Lichtenstein, 1816)
Description
Adults of both sexes are about 43 cm (17 in) in length, including the long broad tail. The adult male has a red head, breast, and lower undersides, with a blue band on the back of the neck between the red above and green on the back, the wings are green and each has a pale green shoulder band, the tail is green, and the rump is blue. The male has a reddish-orange upper mandible with a black tip, a black lower mandible with an orange base, and yellow irises. The plumage of the female is very different from the male having a green head and breast, a grey beak, and the pale shoulder band is small or absent. Juveniles of both sexes have brown irises and a yellowish beak, and otherwise resemble the female.
There are two subspecies; A. s. minor is found at the northern limit of the species range and is similar in appearance to the nominate subspecies but smaller, typically about 5 cm (2 in) smaller in length.
On those rare individuals which have areas without melanin, feathers are orange to yellow.[4] Such a bird can look startingly different from the more common scarlet and green variety (see example in gallery below).
Other variations include the Aprosmictus erythropterus or red-winged parrot, which has a bright green head, red wings and a black back.
Distribution and habitat
Australian king parrots range from North and Central Queensland to Southern Victoria. They are frequently seen in small groups with various species of rosella. Further from their normal eastern upland habitat, they are also found in Canberra during winter, the outer western suburbs and north shore of Sydney, and the Carnarvon Gorge in Central Queensland.
Aviculture
In their native Australia, king parrots are occasionally bred in aviaries and kept as calm and relatively quiet household pets if hand-raised. They are relatively unknown outside Australia. As pets, they have limited "talking" ability and normally prefer not to be handled, but they do bond readily to people and can be very devoted. Life expectancy in the wild is unknown, but some pets have been known to live for up to 25 years.
Sous-espèces
La Perruche royale est représentée par deux sous-espèces :
Alisterus scapularis scapularis ;
Alisterus scapularis minor, plus petite et généralement plus mince.
Description
Le plumage de la Perruche royale est vert pour les parties supérieures et rouge pour les inférieures. Le croupion est bleu. Les iris sont jaunes et les pattes grises. Cet oiseau mesure environ 43 cm.
Le dimorphisme sexuel est prononcé : le mâle possède une tête complètement rouge et un bec orange tandis que la femelle présente une tête et une poitrine vertes ainsi qu'un bec noir.
Les immatures ressemblent à la femelle à l'exception du bec et des iris bruns.
Répartition
La Perruche royale est présente sur la côte est de l'Australie du nord du Queensland au sud de Victoria. Elle est assez répandue mais a cependant disparu de certaines régions où l'Eucalyptus a été arraché pour faire place à des arbres non autochtones comme le Pin de Monterey Pinus radiata.
Captivité
La Perruche royale est bien connue dans les élevages même si elle n'est pas très répandue. La première reproduction a été enregistrée en 1880 en Allemagne.
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The Australian king parrot (Alisterus scapularis) is endemic to eastern Australia. It is found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion of the continent, including eucalyptus wooded areas in and directly adjacent to subtropical and temperate rainforest. They feed on fruits and seeds gathered from trees or on the ground.
Taxonomy
The Australian king parrot was first described by the German naturalist Martin Lichtenstein in 1818. The species belongs to the genus Alisterus, whose three members are known as king parrots. The genus is sometimes sunk into the genus Aprosmictus.
Two subspecies are recognised, which are differentiated by size:
Alisterus scapularis minor (Mathews, 1911)
Alisterus scapularis scapularis (Lichtenstein, 1816)
Description
Adults of both sexes are about 43 cm (17 in) in length, including the long broad tail. The adult male has a red head, breast, and lower undersides, with a blue band on the back of the neck between the red above and green on the back, the wings are green and each has a pale green shoulder band, the tail is green, and the rump is blue. The male has a reddish-orange upper mandible with a black tip, a black lower mandible with an orange base, and yellow irises. The plumage of the female is very different from the male having a green head and breast, a grey beak, and the pale shoulder band is small or absent. Juveniles of both sexes have brown irises and a yellowish beak, and otherwise resemble the female.
There are two subspecies; A. s. minor is found at the northern limit of the species range and is similar in appearance to the nominate subspecies but smaller, typically about 5 cm (2 in) smaller in length.
On those rare individuals which have areas without melanin, feathers are orange to yellow.[4] Such a bird can look startingly different from the more common scarlet and green variety (see example in gallery below).
Other variations include the Aprosmictus erythropterus or red-winged parrot, which has a bright green head, red wings and a black back.
Distribution and habitat
Australian king parrots range from North and Central Queensland to Southern Victoria. They are frequently seen in small groups with various species of rosella. Further from their normal eastern upland habitat, they are also found in Canberra during winter, the outer western suburbs and north shore of Sydney, and the Carnarvon Gorge in Central Queensland.
Aviculture
In their native Australia, king parrots are occasionally bred in aviaries and kept as calm and relatively quiet household pets if hand-raised. They are relatively unknown outside Australia. As pets, they have limited "talking" ability and normally prefer not to be handled, but they do bond readily to people and can be very devoted. Life expectancy in the wild is unknown, but some pets have been known to live for up to 25 years.