Ground parrot

Ground parrot
Subsp. flaviventris
Subsp. wallicus
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittaculidae
Genus: Pezoporus
Species:
P. wallicus
Binomial name
Pezoporus wallicus
(Kerr, 1792)
Subspecies[3]
  • P. w. flaviventris (North, 1911)
  • P. w. wallicus (Kerr, 1792)
  • P. w. leachi (Mathews, 1912)

The ground parrot (Pezoporus wallicus) is a parrot endemic to Australia. It is one of only four ground-dwelling parrots in the world, the others being the closely related night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis), the Antipodes parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor), and the flightless kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus)[4] from New Zealand.

The colouration of the two Pezoporus species and the kakapo is similar – yellowish green with darker barring, somewhat reminiscent of the head and back of the wild-type budgerigar.

When disturbed, a ground parrot flies swiftly just above the ground before dropping back into the vegetation. The presence of the bird is often only revealed by its characteristic dusk and dawn call, a clear whistling sequence of notes which rise in pitch before fading. It is silent in flight.

The IOC World Bird List currently recognises three subspecies; the eastern ground parrot (subsp. wallicus), the western ground parrot or Kyloring (subsp. flaviventris) and the Tasmanian ground parrot. (subsp. leachi)[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference IUCN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference CITES was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference IOC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ David, N. & Gosselin, M. 2002. The grammatical gender of avian genera. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 122: 257-282