Lord Howe Island Parakeet (Cyanoramphus subflavescens)
This species was once endemic to the island of Lord Howe in the Tasman Sea off southeastern Australia, the species was repeatedly classified as a subspecies of either the Norfolk Island – (Cyanoramphus cookii (Gray)) or the New Zealand Red-crowned Parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae (Sparrman)) but is now finally considered a distinct species.
The bird reached a length of about 27 cm and was otherwise quite similar to the two abovementioned, closely related species.
The human settlers on the island didn’t like the parakeet, they considered them to be a pest to their crops and gardens and thus heavily hunted the parakeets … until the species went finally extinct.
The last two birds, apparently a breeding pair, were seen in 1869.
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The depiction below shows a pair of this species with the male bird in front – these are the only two specimens of the species known to exist at all!
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(public domain)
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edited: 27.11.2018