Field identification of the orange-fronted parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi): pitfalls for the unwary | Notornis and Birds New Zealand

摘要

Thefieldidentificationoftheorange-frontedparakeet(Cyanoramphusmalherbi)hasbeenaproblemsincethespecieswasfirstdescribedin1857.Separatingthiscriticallyendangeredspeciesfromitsmorecommon,butalsodecliningsympatricrelative,theyellow-crownedparakeet(C.auriceps),canbedifficult,asbothspeciesarecrypticandphenotypicallysimilar.Todevelopcriteriaforconsistentidentification,weassessed2700fieldobservationsontheorange-frontedparakeetand10,000fieldobservationsfortheyellow-crownedparakeet,wherethephenotypesofeachbirdwascomparedtothetraitsofthegeneticallydefinedspeciesandverifiedtypespecimens.Observationson117nestsalsoallowedobservationsofyoungfromnestlingtoindependence.Weconcludedthatonly2fieldmarkscanbeusedtoreliablyseparatethe2speciesbutaclearviewofeitherthefronsorrumppatchmustbeseen.Theorange-frontedparakeethasanobviousorangefronsandrumppatchwhiletheseareasontheyellow-crownedparakeetarecrimson.Nootherfieldtraitsconsistentlyseparatedthe2species.Eventhen,identificationcanbeunreliablewhenobservingjuveniles,whenlightconditionsarepoor,orifthebirdishighinthecanopy.Werecommendthatunlesstheobserverseesaclearandobviouscolourinthefronsorrumppatch,thenthatbirdmustremainasunidentifiedtospecies.