Lord Howe parakeet
species of bird
The Lord Howe parakeet (Cyanoramphus subflavescens), also known as the Lord Howe red-fronted parakeet, is an extinct parrot endemic to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, part of New South Wales, Australia. It was described as full species by Tommaso Salvadori in 1891, but subsequently it has been regarded as subspecies of the red-crowned parakeet. In 2012, the IOC World Bird List recognised it as species.
Taxonomy
Pending molecular analysis, Christidis & Boles (2008) have suggested on biogeographical grounds that the taxon is likely to be most closely related to the Norfolk Island green parrot (Cyanoramphus cookii), as either a subspecies of what they have tentatively called the Tasman parakeet (Cyanoramphus cookii subflavescens), or possibly a full species (Cyanoramphus subflavescens).
Description
The Lord Howe parakeet was a medium-sized green parrot with a crimson cap and eye-stripe. Measurements of specimens indicate that it was slightly larger than the nominate subspecies, as well as having yellower plumage and less extensive red markings on the head.
Extinction
The parrot was formerly abundant on the island, but was persecuted by the early settlers there because of its raids on their crops and gardens. It was last recorded in 1869.
Only two specimens of the Lord Howe parakeet exist. They come from the John Gould collection, taken by John MacGillivray in September 1853 on the voyage of HMS Herald, and are held in the Natural History Museum.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q262421. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1891, 2012, 2008 and 1869.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lord Howe parakeet” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.