New Zealand parakeets split

01-12-2000

Molecular and other evidence supports both Orange-fronted Cyanoramphus malherbi and Forbes' C. forbesi Parakeet as being regarded as distinct species.

Orange-fronted Parakeet is classified as Endangered, with its main threat coming from introduced predators such as stoats and rats. It is known from just two valleys in the South Island of New Zealand, with a declining population thought to be between 200-500 individuals. It was once present across most of the South Island, as well as in the North and Stewart Islands.

Forbes' Parakeet is restricted to Little Mangere and Mangere Islands in the Chatham Island group. It too is classified as Endagered, with its population thought to be between 50-250 birds. Although introduced predators and habitat degradation were a big cause of the species' decline in the past, its greatest threat in the present is hybridisation with the much commoner Chatham Island Red-crowned Parakeet Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae chathamensis.