   #copyright

Kākāriki

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                       iKākāriki
   Red-crowned Parakeet, Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae
   Red-crowned Parakeet, Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae
               Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Psittaciformes
   Family:  Psittacidae
   Genus:   Cyanoramphus
   Species: C. auriceps
            C. malherbi
            C. novaezelandiae

                                Binomial name

   Cyanoramphus auriceps
   ( Kuhl, 1820)
   Cyanoramphus malherbi
   Souancé, 1857
   Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae
   ( Sparrman, 1787)

   The three species of Kākāriki or New Zealand parakeets are the most
   common species of parakeet in the genus Cyanoramphus, family
   Psittacidae. The birds' Māori name, which is the most commonly used,
   means "small parrot", and is also used as the term for the colour
   green.

   The three species on mainland New Zealand are the Yellow-crowned
   Parakeet Cyanoramphus auriceps, the Orange-fronted Parakeet C. malherbi
   and the Red-crowned Parakeet or Red-fronted Parakeet, C.
   novaezelandiae. All are native to New Zealand, and have become
   endangered as a result of habitat destruction following European
   settlement and nest predation by introduced species of mammal. Scarce
   on the mainland, they have survived well on outlying islands, and also
   through breeding in captivity since they make good pets. A licence from
   the New Zealand Department of Conservation is now required to breed
   them in captivity.

   In October 2004, according to the Porirua City News ( 17 November, page
   8), two pairs of Red-crowned Parakeets were seen in the Porirua Scenic
   Reserve, probably having flown from Kapiti Island.

   Mitochondrial DNA analysis has indicated that the Orange-fronted
   Parakeet is a separate species and not just a colour variation of the
   Yellow-crowned Parakeet. The Orange-fronted Parakeet is highly
   endangered, with less than 200 individuals remaining in the North
   Canterbury region of the South Island. Furthermore, Chatham Island's
   Yellow-crowned Parakeet and the red-crowned populations of New
   Caledonia, Norfolk Island and the subantarctic islands have been
   determined to be distinct species (Boon et al., 2001).

   There is one remaining subspecies of the Red-crowned Parakeet, the
   Chatham Island Red-crowned Parakeet, C. n. chathamensis, all other
   forms having been split off (see also Scofield, 2005).

Aviculture

   The red-crowned parakeets are common in aviculture and they are
   relatively easy to breed. They lay about 3 to 5 white eggs in a nesting
   box. A cinnamon colour variety and a pied variety are available.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81k%C4%81riki"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
