Extinction - The Parrots We've Lost

Extinction: The Parrots We’ve Lost

By Desi Milpacher

The definition of extinction is “the act or process of becoming extinct; a coming to an end or dying out: the extinction of a species.” Once extinction has been determined, there is usually no chance of a species recurring in a given ecosystem.

In mankind’s active history of exploration, exploitation and settlement of new worlds, there has been much loss of natural resources. Parrots have suffered tremendously in this, with over twenty species having been permanently lost. And there are many more that are teetering on the edge, towards the interminable abyss. In this article we find out what happened to these lost treasures, learn which ones are currently being lost, and why this is important to our world.

The Old and New Worlds and Their Lost Parrots Little is known of the natural history of most of the world’s extinct parrots, mainly because they disappeared before in-depth studies were conducted on them. It is generally believed, save the Central American macaws which were least known, that most fed on diets similar to today’s parrots (leaves, blossoms, seeds, nuts and fruits), frequented heavy forested areas and nested mainly in tree cavities. A number could not fly well, or were exceptionally tame, leading to their easy capture. Nearly all of these natural treasures vanished between the 18th and early 20th centuries, and the main reason for their loss was overhunting. Some lesser causes included egg collecting (popular with naturalists in the 19th century), diseases (introduced or endemic), drought, natural disasters, predation by introduced species, and habitat alternation. As human encroachment progressed, loss of habitat and the capture for the wild bird trade would become more and more a factor in their loss, and now today stand as the two major causes of parrot species disappearance.

Broad-billed Parrot © World Parrot Trust

Parrots of the Old World The Old World is a term generally used to include Africa, Asia and Europe. Species found here include Psittacula parakeets and members of the Poicephalus genus. Six species of parrot have been permanently lost from here, most of which have disappeared in the last one hundred years: Rodrigues Parrot (Necropsittacus rodericanus), Mascarene Parrot (Mascarinus mascarinus), Seychelles Parakeet (Psittacula wardi), Newton’s Parakeet (Psittacula exsul), Mauritius Grey Parrot (Lophopsittacus bensoni), and Broad-billed Parrot (Lophopsittacus mauritianus). These parrots were island species, found on Rodrigues Island and possibly others, in Mauritius, and nearby Seychelles. Island endemic parrot species often do poorly, with little space to expand if they should lose habitat to logging or other activities. They are also vulnerable due to their usually naturally low population density should invasion by feral species or disease take place.

Parrots of the New World The New World describes the Americas – North, Central and South and, for our purposes, Australasia, including Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands. By far the largest group of extinct parrots were once found in these areas, many of them the colourful macaws: Jamaican Red Macaw (Ara gossei), Dominican Green-and-yellow Macaw (A. atwoodi), Jamaican Green-and-yellow Macaw (A. erythrocephala), Lesser Antillean Macaw (A. guadeloupensis), Cuban Macaw (A. tricolor). Again, island species are particularly at risk due to their lack of space and/or population, and the Caribbean parrots even more so, because of tropical storms and hurricanes.

Other species gone extinct included the Guadeloupe Parakeet (Aratinga labati), Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis), Guadeloupe Amazon (Amazona violacea), Martinique Amazon (A. Martinicana) and the recently lost (in the wild) Spix’s Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii), all in the Americas; they were persecuted for food and as pests, and suffered loss of habitat. The Norfolk Island Kaka (Nestor productus), Society Parakeet (Cyanoramphus ulietanus), Black-fronted Parakeet (Cyanoramphus zealandicus), the more recently disappeared Paradise Parrot (Psephotus pulcherrimus) and the almost extinct New Caledonian Lorikeet (Cyanoramphus diadema) (Forshaw 2006) in Australia, New Zealand and the other areas were lost to hunting and loss of habitat.

The End? Today’s most critically endangered parrots are, according to the IUCN Red List, as follows: Lear’s Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), Spix’s Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) (extinct in the wild, held in a few locations in captivity), Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis), Glaucous Macaw (Anodorhynchus glaucus) (thought now to be extinct), Yellow-eared Conure (Ognorhynchus icterotis), Grey-breasted Conure (Pyrrhura griseipectus), Indigo-winged Parrot (Hapalopsittaca fuertesi), Puerto Rican Amazon (Amazona vittata), as well as the flightless Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus); Blue-fronted and Red-throated Lorikeets (Charmosyna toxopei and Charmosyna amabilis), Red-vented and Yellow-crested Cockatoos Spix’s Macaw © 2002 Mickey Muck World Parrot Trust (Cacatua haematuropygia and Cacatua sulphurea), Orange-bellied and Night Parrots (Neophema chrysogaster and Pezoporus occidentalis). Most of these species number in the tens to a few hundred, which in many instances is too few to ensure their survival. There are also countless other species possibly less endangered, but in peril nonetheless.

We should not allow the fates of the rest of these parrot species to become that of the lost ones mentioned above; we should ensure that their uniqueness continues to be a part of the Earth in all of its interconnectedness. The loss of a specific species has great implications for any given ecosystem; it is the loss of a vital cog in the inner workings of a dynamic and ever-changing bionetwork. Every life form has a purpose, a reason for existing – to be born, reproduce, feed and interact with its environment until its life is over, thereby actively or passively assisting the existence of other organisms around it. In this, each life is essential.

Sources: IUCN Red List, 2008, Birdlife.org Parrots of the World, Forshaw, Joseph M., Princeton University Press, 2006.

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