Psittacula wardi ( Newton, 1867 )

HUME, JULIAN PENDER, 2007, Reappraisal of the parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with comments on their ecology, morphology, and affinities, Zootaxa 1513 (1), pp. 1-76 : 29-30

Seychelles parakeet Psittacula wardi ( Newton, 1867) .

Cateau vert, Newton, 1867: 348.

Palaeornis wardi Newton, 1867: 335 .

Psittacula wardi ; Peters, 1937.242.

Measurements: See Appendix 3.

Type locality: Mahé, Seychelles.

Distribution: Mahé, Silhouette and possibly Praslin, Seychelles.

Etymology: Named after Swinburne Ward (1830–1897), British Civil Commissioner to the Seychelles,

1862–1868.

Syntypes: UMZC18 / Psi /67/g/1-3. 2 females, 1 male collected on Mahé by Swinburne Ward .

Diagnosis: Although of limited use, some morphometric comparisons have been made using an x-radiograph of a female P. wardi BMNH 1890.10.10.5 ( Fig.13D ). This specimen is larger than female P. eupatria in the cranium, rostrum, mandible, ulna, and tibiotarsus but smaller in tarsometatarsal and carpometacarpal length; male P. eupatria are larger in all elements.

Description and comparison: Skeletal specimens are unavailable. In the skin ( Fig.13C ), P. wardi is smaller and shorter-winged, with the bill (rhampthotheca) slightly less robust than its mainland congener P. eupatria . Males of P. wardi differs from those of P. eupatria by the lack of a rosy collar, the cheeks and hindneck are suffused with blue rather than blue-grey, the black band encircling cheeks is finer, extending to the hind neck, and the undersides are more yellowish. The wings and tail are shorter and broader. Newton (1867: 346) describes this species as similar to P. alexandri [= P.eupatria ], but with stouter bill, purple red shoulder patches, and the hind neck without a red band. Several authors (e.g., Greenway 1967) have reduced P. wardi to a subspecies of P. eupatria . Although Groombridge et al. 2004) did not include P.wardi or P.exsul in their study, the distinctive characters just mentioned surely warrant specific status for the Seychelles bird.

Remarks: The Seychelles Parakeet is known only from 10 specimens. It died out in the early years of the 20 th Century, persecuted for supposed damage to maize crops ( Newton 1867; Newton & Newton 1876; Greenway 1967; Forshaw 1989). E. Newton (1867) gave a brief description of the bird during a visit to Silhouette:

The cocoa-nuts are now planted more than halfway up the mountain, and it is probable that in ten years none of the native forests will remain……; and here we saw the:”Cateau vert’ [= Psittacula

wardi] at the edge of the forest, in a place some 600 or 700 feet high, where was a patch of maize; but

they had been so often fired at that they would not come within shot [ Newton 1867: 357].

Newton personally never saw the green parakeet on Mahé, but while there was informed that:

The “Cateau vert,” from the constant persecution against it brought on by its unfortunate partiality

for ripe maize, was said to be nearly exterminated [ Newton 1867: 348].

The Civil Commissioner, Swinburne Ward had, however, procured three skins of the bird from Mahé. Newton (1867) described the species from these specimens naming it to commemorate the donor. Newton also gathered hearsay evidence that the species had also once occurred on Praslin ( Newton & Newton 1876; Diamond 1984). Rothschild (1907a) gave the last word on the continued persistence of the Cateau vert stating that:

On the Seychelles another Ringed Parakeet, Palaeornis wardi , is practically gone, for whereas a few years ago it was fairly common on Mahé, it is now confined to the small island of Silhouette, near Mahé, and is even there almost extinct [ Rothschild 1907a: 203].

The granitic Seychelles are an ancient part of the Gondwanaland continental landmass of which only the mountain tops now remain above sea level ( Plummer & Belle 1995). Although it is now difficult to determine how much faunal turnover may have occurred since human colonization, much of the Seychelles avifauna is little differentiated from the mainland at the generic level ( Prys-Jones & Diamond 1984), and can be considered comparatively recent. It is not known if P. wardi has any relationships with other Indian Ocean Psittacula as no fossil or skeletal remains are available and no DNA analysis has yet been undertaken.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Skins of Psittacula echo A, BMNH 1859.11.22.42♂; B, BMNH 1890.10.10.8♀; and Psittacula wardi. C, BMNH80.6.3.1 ♀ and D, BMNH1890.10.10.5 ♀ x-radiograph. Although the x-radiograph is of limited use, it illustrates the big-headiness of P.wardi with comparatively reduced but robust wing and leg elements. Scale bar = 10mm.