By Graeme PhippsThe Macleay Museum,

The University of Sydney, 2006 AustraliaCopyright remains with the author

tqe

Kakarikis

WHAT IS A KAKARIKI

New Zealand parakeets of the genusCyanoramphus are better known by theirMaori name of kakarikis, which means"small parrot." A special plea is madefor the conservation of the endangeredNorfolk Island kakariki.

There are six species in the genusCyanoramph,us which was named in1854 by Prince Bonaparte, based oncharacteristics of the black-frontedparakeet of Tahiti Cyanoramphuszealandie us (Latham). The wordCyanoramphus means "blue-beaked"which refers to the bluish-grey in thebills of all species. Forshaw (1978) givesthe following details of the genus: "Thespecies are small to medium sized, stockyparrots with long, graduated tails. Thetarsi (legs) are rather long, and there is anotch in the upper mandible. Males arelarger than females, but there are noplumage differences ... " The main sex­ing feature I use is the relative size of thebill, which is always much larger inmales.

NOTES ON KAKARIKIS

Two species of kakariki are already ex­tinct: the black-fronted parakeet C.zealandieus which inhabit Tahiti in theSociety Islands, and a species fromRaiatea called the Society parakeet. C.ulietanus (Gmelin) which is known fromtwo specimens collected in 1771 on Cap­tain Cook's second voyage. Clearlyhabitat destruction by Polynesians hadalready caused massive extinctions ofbirds, and these kakarikis may have beenjust two more casualties in this process.Four species still exist.

4

UNICOLOR OR ANTIPODESGREEN PARAKEET

Cyanoramphus unicoIor lear

This species is the largest kakariki withmales at 31 em. being as long as aneastern rosella Platyeereus eximius(Shaw) but with noticeably long legswhich relate to their terrestrial lifestyle.Antipodes Island has no trees. Onespecimen was received by the Duke ofBedford who commented in 1931 that "Idiscovered certain interesting peculiari­ties due, no doubt, to her entirely ter·restrial existence in her native haunts.Unlike any other psittacine bird I havekept, she cannot climb wire netting withbeak or feet-she can only fly up andcling to it without moving. She is also in­capable of perching on twigs. Thickperches she can manage, and uses freely,but with rather clumsy action of adomestic pigeon whom Nature intendedto negotiate rock ledges only. She is avery lively bird, in fact, the most activeand restless parakeet I have ever kept. . ." However, at Mount Bruce thespecies was seen to climb wire nettingand perch on twigs, thus the Duke's birdmay have been unusual.

A.G. Caley reported in Low (1980)that unicolors appear to take three yearsto mature. Although hens would laywhen one year old, they would not in­cubate and usually broke their eggs.Red-fronted kakarikis were used as fosterparents for the eggs of first females. Irecorded (Phipps 1977) some details ofunicolors seen at Mount Bruce. Theywere housed in 7m x 3m x 3m concretefloored aviaries which were roofed withplastic sheeting. Rocks were placed atone end, and perches were at both endsof the enclosure. Diet was sunflower

seeds, apple, carrot, greens, poultrypellets; and in breeding season canneddog food was made available. Thisparakeet is found, with a race of red­fronted kakariki called Reischek's parrot,on sub-antarctic Antipodes Island whereboth are considered common.

ORANGE-FRONTED KAKARIKICyanoramphus malherbi Souance

This very rare parakeet is confined tothe South Island, New Zealand althoughthere are doubtful records from theNorth Island, Stewart, and AucklandIslands. The only account of this speciesbreeding in captivity comes from Prest­wich's "Account of the Psittacidae raisedin France" in which De Laurier isreported to have bred a pair in 1883.From time to time "orange-fronted" areadvertised for sale. These birds aredefinitely hybrids between the red­fronted and yellow-fronted kakarikis,and are not true C. malherbi at all.

Controversy exists over Holyoak's(1974) suggestion that the orange­fronted kakariki is a colour morph of theyellow-fronted kakariki, and not a truespecies at all. However, Sir Charles Flem­ing noted an historical record of fivebirds collected together at Owen Junc­tion, near southwest Nelson N.Z. byA.C. O'Connor in 1928. Furthermore, asmall population was discovered inforested mountainous country in LakeSumner Forest Park early in 1981, andtwo were captured by the Wildlife Ser­vice for breeding in captivity. Unfor­tunately, both died.

Reliable records of the orange-frontedkakariki are all from the same generalarea, and not from other parts of therange of the yellow-fronted kakariki; andthis plumage variant has never occurredin the many yellow-fronted kakarikis incaptivity, so I doubt that it is a colourmorpho

YELLOW-FRONTED KAKARIKISCyanoramphus auriceps (Kuhl)

The nominate race of this kakariki isdistributed in New Zealand and outlyingIslands where it is said to be fairly com­mon in forests. The distinguishing fea­tures of this species are that it has a redfrontal band extending to, but not pastthe eyes, and has a yellow or goldencrown. Females at 23 em. are smallerthan red-fronted kakarikis, but males at26 em. overlap in measurements. Bycomparison of the colour plates, it willbe seen that both the yellow-fronted andred-fronted kakarikis have red frontalareas, that is, the area of the frons or

Antipodes greenparakeet at Mount Bruce

Native Bird Reserve,Masterton, New Zealand.

o>-(f)

Q) -t::Joooo..cCL

Chatham Island red-crowned parakeet taken on Little Mangare Island, New Zealand

Forbes' parakeet feeding on seed-heads of Carex on Little Mangare Island.

forehead which is just above the beak.Strictly speaking, the New Zealandnames of yellow-crowned and red­crowned kakariki should therefore befollowed.

The colour plates feature a photo­graph of the only race of the yellow­fronted kakariki, Forbes' parakeet C.aun'ceps forbesi Rothschild, The bird hasmore yellow underparts than the yellow­fronted, and the red frontal band doesnot extend to the eyes, but what is notobvious from the photograph is theemerald green sides of the face, and thelarger size, We do not have this parrot inAustralian aviculture,

Forbes' parakeets are now confined tosix hectares in forest on Little MangareIsland in the Chatham group where theyare considered highly endangered. TheChatham Island red-fronted parakeetbegan hybridising with Forbes' parakeetsand Flack (1976) reported that a pair ofhybrids had displaced a breeding pair ofForbes' on Little Mangare. Other hybridswere fertile and began breeding amongthemselves, and Taylor (1975) has re­corded details of the hybrid plumage. Itwas decided to eliminate all hybrids fromMangare and Little Mangare Islands, andwhen this was done, sixteen pure Forbes'parakeets remained; six of which weretaken to Mount Bruce where the specieshas now been bred.

Colo~r varieties of yellow-frontedkakarikis include individuals where thegreen is replaced by canary yellow.

RED-FRONTED KAKARIKISCyanoramphus novaezelandiae

(Saprrman)

The red-fronted kakariki species con­tains eight races which are distributedthroughout the south-west Pacific fromNew Caledonia in the north to Mac­quarie Island in the South. Despite thishuge distribution, the red-fronteds areremarkably similar, differing mainly insize and depth of colour, which maymean that the species radiated from NewZealand in relatively recent times. Thenominate race is found on North andSouth Islands of New Zealand, StewartIsland, and on the Auckland Islands.Males are 28 em. in length; females 26em.

This is presumably the race which isfound in Australian aviaries, butrepeated crossing with the yellow­fronted kakariki makes it difficult toassign origin to any other race. Hybridfeatures are seen especially in yellow ororange feathers in the red crown of thebird, especially on the margin of thehindcrown, a feature which may be more

5

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pronounced in some birds than inothers. It is an error to assume that birdsderived from New Zealand aviaries arenecessarily pure, because I noticed alarge number of hybrids in aviaries inNew Zealand and imagine that it mayalways have been thus. For example,Prestwich (1954) in Records of ParrotsBred in Captivity records M.E. Fitzgeraldof Tauranga Harbour as saying of his redfronteds "The parent birds referred toare believed to have been aviary-bred forseveral generations. They come fromstock in which there was some blood ofthe yellow-fronted species, C. aunceps,but in colour and size they stronglyfavour the red-fronted variety." Thesame author records that the hybrids arefertile. Our red-fronted stock have palerred areas than museum skins, which maybe diet related more than genetic. MostAustralian red-fronteds tend to besmaller than museum specimens, butagain this may be diet related. The redgoes past the eye in all red-fronteds, acondition not found in the yellow­fronted or orange-fronted kakarikis.

The red-fronted kakariki is not as com­mon in the wild as yellow-frontedkakarikis in New Zealand. Specimenswith yellow body feathers are common,and Porter (1930) comments thatlutinism and cyanism is common in allmembers of the genus, and mentions asky blue specimen in the DunedinMuseum. For those aviculturists in­terested in colour mutations, there seemsample possibilities for developing manybeautiful yellow and blue forms,

Chatham Islands red-fronted kakarikic.n. chathamensis Oliver is confined tothe Chatham Islands and has been men­tioned earlier with Forbes'parakeet. In alecture to the Royal Zoological Society ofN.S,W. on "Birds of the ChathamIslands" by T. Lindsay (1975), this par­rot was stated to be common on theChathams, with their numbers estimatedto be up to a thousand.

The kakariki from the KermadecIslands is C. n. cyanrus Salvadori;"cyanurus" meaning "blue tail" whichis a characteristic of the race, as is thedarker green body feathers. It is puzzlingto see yellowing in the crown in apopulation which not only has a tenden­cy to drift away from yellowing in theplumage, but could never have hybrid­ised with a yellow-fronted kakariki asthey do not occur on the Kermadecs, sopossibly slight yellowing in the hind­crown may be due to ageing. This is sup­ported by Sindel (pers. comm.) whostated that his best male red-frontedkakariki which previously had no yellowin the red areas, developed some yellow-

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ing in the hindcrown this year. Bullerrecorded from this locality a specimenwith greenish yellow abdomen and a ringof the same colour around the frontalcrimson patch. This race is in no dangerof extinction.

G. n. hochstetteri (Reischek) of An­tipodes Island, which is called Reischek'sparrot by New Zealanders, is a largekakariki with distinctly more yellowishplumage, and red areas more orange­red. Reischek's and unicolors havehybridised at Mount Bruce, but do notdo so in the wild. It is surprising that An­tipodes Island supports two parrot spe­cies in the same genus because onlytussock grassland occurs on the island,thus there are not many opponunitiesfor dividing resources.

On Macquarie Island there was akakariki, G.n. erythrotis (Wagler) whichhas been extinct since about 1890. Someauthors have considered it doubtfullydistinct from Reischek's kakariki, but Iconsider it inconceivable that AntipodesIsland and Macquarie Island birds,separated by over 1600 kilometers ofocean could be members of the samepopulation. One of the Macquarie skinsin the British Museum has a fewyellowish tips to some of the greenfeatures of the crown, bordering the redpatch.

The Lord Howe Island form G. n.subflavescens Salvadori, was shot out by1870. It had yellowish green on thecheeks and underparts with less extensivered on the head. These are illustrated inthe colour reproduction of thelithograph drawn by ).G. Keulemansfrom the only two specimens in existencewhich are now in the British Museum(Natural History).

G.n. cookii (G.R. Gray) is a larger anddarker green race of the red-crowned par­rot which inhabits Norfolk Island. Irecorded in 1976 that the smallermember of a pair under observation hadyellowish feathers on the rear of thecrown. (Leitz Trinovid 8 x 30 binocularswere used). In 1893, A.). North de­scribed this race as "being larger andhaving a more robust bill; the crimsoncolour on the forehead and venex moreextended, and the spot on the ear-covensbut slightly indicated by obscure crimson... instead of the streak across the eyesterminating on the ear-covens in deepcrimson as in G.n. novaezealandiae."Re-examination of museum specimens inWellington, Sydney and Vienna, and ex­amination by me of thiny-one skins inthe American Museum of Natural His­tory, New York confirms Nonh's points.This critically endangered bird is a well­defined race.

7

Photo by R.H. Taylor

(J)Q.

-~or:0....

a:o>­.0oaor:0....

Security aviaries atMount Bruce Wildlife Reserve,

Masterton, New Zealand.

Norfolk Island Kakarikifeeding on Bloodwood fruitsand seeds, Mount Pitt Reserve,Norfolk Island.

(f)Q.

.9-

.c0....

cio>,

..0

oo.c0....

Little Mangare Island in the Chatham Group, New Zealand. Little Mangare is the only home of a criticallyendangered kakariki, Forbes' parakeet. The islet is only about one tenth the size ofCentral Park in New York.

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FOODS EATEN BYKAKARIKIS IN THE WILD

The following diet was fed by A.Slaminski, a Sydney aviculturist whokept only red-fronted kakarikis. Slamin­ski (pers. comm.) supplied a seed mix­rure of three parts sunflower, three partscanary and one part white millet. The

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Source of BirdInformation species

Taylor(1975) Unicolor

Reischek's kakarikis; and ChathamIsland red-fronted kakarikis and Forbes'yellow-fronted parakeet respectively.Note the vast percentage of leaves andshoots consumed by C. unicolor, seedsby Reischek's, leaves and shoots byChatham Island kakarikis and flowersand invertebrates, mainly caterpillarsand scale insects, by Forbes' kakariki. In­spection of the figures and table suggestthat some kakarikis can be thought of aspsittacine softbills! To save space, detailsof kakariki diets in the wild are listed inthe following table:

Phipps (1977)Yell.Front.OrangeFront.

berries, seeds,penguincorpses

Taylor(I975) Ch. nectarlsI. Redfr.

Oliver(1955) Ch. fruits of piripir (Acaena)Isl.Redfr. and pig face, fat & mag­

gots found on sheep­skins, seed potaoteswhich were picked outof the gound, Oleariaflowers, etc.

Layard New Cal. pawpaw pulp and seeds.(1882) Redfr.Oliver (1955) Kermdec& Merton Redfr.(1970)

Oliver (1955) Yell.Front

shoots and shrubs, sedgeCoprosma ber-ries, goat carcasses,grass seeds, grit.

Oliver (1955) Macq. lsI. crustaceans and otherRedfr, small animals amongst

heaps of cast-upseaweed.

Oliver (1955) Reischek'sCoprosma berries, grassRedfr. leaves, moss, fungus,

broken eggshells, headsof Lycopodium.

Oliver (1955) N.Z. fruits and buds, leaves,Redfr. seeds, small grubs, and

insects, currants, plums,strawberries, pears, ap­ples, sow thistle, cocks­foot, Acacia seeds,cyprus & pine cones,acorns, wheat, seeds ofnoxious weeds, flax andrushes.grass seeds, beech &silver pine cones, berries& soft fruits, pigface,aphids: "tender tips &embryo blossoms" ofCoprosma.flax flowers and nectar

Harrison(1970)

The last race is the ew Caledonianred-fronted c.n. saisetti Verreaux andDesMurs. It is listed in the Red DataBook as being rare, and by Delacour(1966) as being rare, but Orenstein(1972) reports them as "beingreasonably common 10 undisturbedareas.

In summary, two species of kakarikiand two races of the red-fronted kakarikiare already extinct. The unicolor andReischek's parrots are common, butvulnerable, as may be the Kermadec red­front. The orange-fronted is the rarestspecies with very few twentieth centuryrecords; and Forbes' parakeet and the

orfolk Island red-front are highly en­dangered. Aviculture surely has an im­portant role to play in the continued sur­vival of these birds.

AVICULTURAL NOTES

Some European literature suggeststhat kakarikis do not live very long incaptivity. "A delightful inmate of anaviary and a free breeder . . . unfor­tunately does not live very long in cap­tiviry as a rule," (Rutgers and Norris,1982), but Sindel (1972) reported pairsbreeding at twelve years, and conjec­tured that they would live to 15 years.Low (1980) reports John Yealland ascommenting that they had' 'a combina­tion surely unique in captive birds-thatthey will generally breed with the utmostreadiness, will die with the same facilityand, one may remark, they do not in theleast mind which one they do." Seth­Smith (1903) considered that "the NewZealand parakeet is, when acclimatised,a comparatively hardy and easily keptspecies, and one that will breed freely incaptivity if suitably accommodated ... "However, they are a common bird inEurope, and Dr. J. Steinbacher (pers.comm.) has mentioned that in WestGermany there are many breeders of theRed-fronted kakariki, and thinks thatthere must be more in the hands of birdlovers (in W. Germany) than in narure.They are also very popular birds in orthAmerica.

The conditions of suitable accommo­dation are established by considering theecology of the bird in the wild.Australian experiences are that aviarypopulations fluctuate greatly, and at thetime of writing, yellow-fronted kakarikisare becoming harder to obtain. Thereason may be dietary deficiency. Ex­amination of the literature shows thatdiets of kakarikis in the wild are variedand have high protein content. Thefollowing table shows the range of foodseaten by Antipodes green parrots and

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root biscuits; spinach and a wide varietyof greens, such as, winter grass, summergrass, chickweed and dockweed. A lot ofgrit and cuttlebone was consumed.Sindel commented (as have otherauthors) that kakarikis may walk up anddown aviary wire without using the beak,and that they scratch on the ground afterthe fashion of fowls, adding that they arean inquisitive bird and will reachthrough the aviary wire, for example, at­tempting to reach greenfood growingoutside the aviary. This habit results in ahigh proportion of leg lacerations andfractures.

Falla, Gibson and Turbott (1979)record the following details aboutbreeding in the red-fronted kakariki."In hollow tree, eggs on powderedwood; on islands commonly in rockcrevices. Breeding October-March; eggs5-9 white. Laying interval 24-48 hours;incubation starting with second egg; in­cubation period 18-20 days; performedentirely by the female (M.E. Fitzgerald)(in captivity). Chicks grey down; fledg­ing 5-6 weeks; male assists in feedingchicks (food mainly transferred tofemale, but male feeds chicks if femaleabsent)." The notes for the yellow­fronteds were the same except that thebreeding season was recorded as August­April.

Low (1980) records 19 days as the in­cubation period; Sindel (1972) records21 days, as does Caley (pers. comm.) atMount Bruce for the nominate race ofthe red-fronted kakariki. The larger race,Reischek's parrot took 24 days, and theever larger C. unicolor took 26 days.Kakarikis will breed very rapidly, andone clutch may leave the nest to bereared by the cock while the hen in­cubates the next round of eggs. Close at­tention should be paid to the cocks atthis time because they may become ag­gressive towards young and are known tokill their sons.

Sindel housed kakarikis in 3m x 1m x2m high aviaries which were fibro clad. Itwas found that high temperatures arefatal to these island birds, as kakarikishave thick underfeathers, a conditionespecially dangerous in nestlings.Temperatures of greater than 35 0 Celsius(95 oF) are dangerous, and it is best todiscourage breeding on the hottest sum­mer months by the removal of thenestboxes. At the 1981 AmericanFederation of Aviculture Convention inSan Diego, I gave a lecture on theKakarikis. During question time, amember of the audience mentioned thathe had lost adult kakarikis in heatwaveconditions. Perhaps we can conclude thatthese birds should be kept in cooler areas

birds would take beaksful of sunflowerseeds and dump them into the waterdish, then eat them from the water dishone at a time. Niger seed was favourite,but sour crop problems disappeared afterniger seed was eliminated from the dietand was thought to be a cause of theproblem. Arrowroot biscuit, Cotoneasterand Pyracantha berries were eaten. Ifsupplied with apple, the kakarikis wouldfirst eat the seeds. Greens such assprouted seeds, seeding grasses andchickory were eaten in great quantity,especially when young were beingreared. Fresh sweet corn was popular,and the kakarikis also ate cooked wholecorn. Dog food, such as dog rings, weresupplied but only the salt was eaten fromthem. Rock salt was supplied andelemental sulpher was made available,since kakarikis have been reported aseating it.

Slaminski found that his kakarikisbathed frequently, requiring dailychanges of fresh water. In 1975, I ob­served frequent bathing by yellow­fronted kakarikis in small pools on innerChetwode Island, Marborough Sounds,New Zealand.

Slaminski noted that kakarikisscratched in the aviary soil after thefashion of fowls, and would eat earth­worms. They were susceptible both tofungal diseases contracted by eating oldseeds uncovered by scratching, and toavian worms which require regular dos­ing with Nz/venn or Panacaur. He ex­perienced a high death rate in younghens due mainly to eggbinding. It is myopinion that under standard aviary diets,hens do not have time to achieve a largeenough size, and do not have enoughreserves of elements in their bodies tobreed without problems. Kakariki hensare often reported as breeding at onlyfour months of age, and cocks of onlythree months of age have fertilized hens.The solutions would be either tosegregate the birds and keep young hensin cages which have no nestbox supplied,or to capitalize on their naturally highcapacity to produce young in great num­bers by feeding diets which are high inproteins. The previous table showing thewide variery of highly proteinaceousfoods eaten by kakarikis in the wildcould be a useful guide in designingaviary diets. I am currently investigatingthe effects of high protein diets on agroup of red-fronted kakarikis, but it istoo early to present any results.

Sindel (1972) wrote in kakariki avicul­ture in Avzdate. He fed plain canary seedand white millet, but sunflower was sup­plied only when young were beingreared; boiled corn; apple; milk arrow-

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fof the United States. In Australia,kakarikis are much more common in thecooler areas than in aviaries in States suchas Queensland. When nestboxes are sup­plied, they should be large (300mmx 225mm x 225mm high) and in a cli­mate such as that of Sydney, Australia,be well ventilated with a peatmossnestbase . The nest should be fixed at a25 0 angle and as the clutch matures, thenest is lowered to level. If the boxbecomes too hot, the nestlings may beplaced in a group and the parents willcontinue to feed them. Sindel concludedhis notes with a plea not to considerkakarikis "too easy" on the basis of goodbreeding results because if their specialavicultural requirements were not met, ahigh death rat~ will be experienced.

In 1977, J. Clark, a member of theAvicultural Society of N. S.W., bred ahybrid between a male red-frontedkakariki and a female naretha blue­bonnet Psephotus haematogasternarethae (H.i. White). The blue-bonnetwas only six months old at the time andthe cock kakariki fed the blue-bonnet aswell as his own hen, which was raisingyoung.

CONSERVATION OF THENORFOLK ISLAND KAKARIKI

My interest in Cyanoramphus parrotsbegan in 1972 which resulted in trips toislands where kakarikis occur. The recordof survial of kakarikis in the Australianpolitical area is very bad since the Mac­quarie Island form and the Lord HoweIsland kakariki are both extinct, and theNorfolk Island kakariki is highly en­dangered. I resolved to investigate thislast mentioned bird and, in 1975, wentto New Zealand to observe red-frontedin the wild to gain insight into theirecology. I also went to Mount BruceNative Bird Reserve to observe captivebreeding techniques and to various NewZealand museums to examine skins. Ihave been fortunate in studying everyspecies and race of the genus in variousworld museums. In the SouthlandMuseum, Invercargill, a small box label­led Platycercus rayneri. Norfolk IslandMale 14.10.01 was located. This was thefirst Norfolk Island parrot I had seen; thecorrect name of which is Cyanoramphusnovaezelandiae cookii, and the specimenis now in the National Museum.

In 1976 I went to Lord Howe Island,Norfolk Island and again to NewZealand. The Lord Howe Island kakarikihad been shot out and Etheridge (1889)reported "the parakeet is said to have ex­isted in very large numbers, doing con­siderable damage to the crops, and have

gradually disappeared about ten yearsago.

On Norfolk Island I located a pair ofkakarikis feeding on the seeds of blood­wood Baloghia lucida, and one bird inforest on Mount Pitt Reserve. Outsidethis reserve kakarikis were not en­countered, but within the reserve thebirds were heard calling almost every dayand there were signs of their feeding on'maple' Elaeodendron curtipendulumseeds as evidenced by the debris litteringthe gound beneath fruiting trees.Kakarikis also eat the seeds of Araucaria,the magnificent Norfolk Island pine.

The main problem confronting thisendangered bird, apart from habitatchange, would be competition with theintroduced crimson rosella Platycercuselegans (Gmelin), a common bird ofeastern Australia, and an abundant birdon the island. I observed crimson rosellasfeeding upon introduced Lantana lan­tana camara fruits and on wild tobaccoSolanum mauritianum in Mount PittReserve. Forshaw has recorded that thesekakarikis eat wild tobacco fruits and alsothe fruits of other introduced plants,thus there is evidence for competition forfood resources. Yet perhaps the mostevidence for competition is for nestingsites.

All of this points to the need for im­mediate investigation into the NorfolkIsland kakan"ki population, but in themeantime I consider that crimsonrosellas should not be given the benefitof the doubt of their numbers should bedrastically reduced. Should their eradica­tion be of no benefit to the kakariki theycould always be reintroduced fromAustralia but there is no populationfrom which to replace the Norfolk Islandkakariki should it die out.

Smith (1969) suggested that kakarikisin captivity were very susceptible to orni­thosis (psittacosis) which is found inalmost all Australian parrots, and it ispossible the crimson rosella may havetaken this disease to Norfolk Island, andthat strains of it may have contributed tothe decline of the kakariki.

The good results of breeding kakarikisin both private and government installa­tions points to the contribution that cap­tive breeding on Norfolk Island mayhave as part of an overall strategy for thepreservation of the parrot. The NorfolkIsland kakariki has been kept in captivi­ty, as reported by Porter (1939) who keptthirteen birds (ten cocks and three hens),but the hens died before he was able tobreed from them. There is no doubt thatPorter's birds were the Norfolk Islandkakariki because he commented on theirlarge size. They were, he said "about the

size of a Pennant's Parakeet." Thiswould have to be an exaggeration sincethe crimson rosella (Pennant's parakeet)is 36 cm. in length, and Forshaw lists theNew Zealand race of the red-fronted asbeing 27 cm. Both Reischek's kakarikiand the Norfolk Island kakariki at 30 cm.are larger races than the New Zealandone, but this is still a long way short ofthe length of a crimson rosella.

Porter received a letter from NorfolkIsland which stated: "Re the greenParakeet you mention, it is not at presentvery plentiful on this island, it is onlyfound in the thick bush around MountPitt. It is very destructive on nearly everykind of fruit. It nests during October inhollow trees, especially in the stems ofdead tree ferns, never on the ground."The correspondent called the kakarikithe "green parakeet" which is the nameused on Norfolk Island for the bird, thecrimson rosella being called the " redparrot. " Some people have reportedhybrids between the two species on Nor­folk Island, but while not ruling out thepossibility of such a cross (note theCyanoramphus x Psephotus mentionedearlier), a more likely explanation is thatthe immature crimson rosella has bothred and green feathers, and "hybrid"sightings might refer to these birds.Porter thought that there was not muchhope for the survival of the kakarikibecause of alteration of habitat on Nor­folk Island.

This parrot was not always rare, in1788John Hunter recorded' 'The parrotsare numerous and the ugliest bird of thekind I ever heard of; this, added to theharshness of their note make them a verydisagreeable bird. The parroquets are en­tirely green, except a red tuft on theirhead." Not everyone, it seems, ap­preciates kakarikis as being beautifulbirds.

From this abundance, the NorfolkIsland kakariki has declined to perilouslylow numbers (only seventeen birds werecounted in 1978) and I think that itsproblems should be addressed at once.•

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSMy special thanks are due to R.H. Taylor of the

N.Z.O.S.I.R. for his works on this genus and toO.K. Merton of the N.Z. Wildlife Service for help­ing me to gain access to inner Chetwode Island,and to Mount Bruce Native Bird Reserve, a faciliryrun by the Wildlife Service. I also thank the Officerin Charge of Mount Bruce, C. Roderick, and of­ficers A. Caley and G. Fraser. I thank the curatorsof the following museums for allowing me access totheir collections: The Australian Museum, Sydney;The National Museum, Wellington; The South­land Museum, Frankfurt; Museo Civico, Genoa;The British Museum (N.H.), Tring; The AmericanMuseum of Natural History, New York; and theMerseyside Counry Museum, Liverpool.

Complete reference list avazlableby wnting the AFA home office.

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