Birds Guide

Kākāriki
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.

References

• Boon, W.M.; Kearvell, J.; Daugherty, C. H.; Chambers, G. K. (2001): Molecular systematics and conservation of kakariki (Cyanoramphus spp.). Science for Conservation 176 PDF fulltext
• Scofield, R. Paul (2005): The supposed Macquarie Island parakeet in the collection of Canterbury Museum. Notornis 52(2): 117-120. PDF fulltext

External links

• NZBirds.com - Kakariki
• The Lexicon of Parrots - Red-fronted Parakeet