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The turquoise parrot (''Neophema pulchella'') is a species of parrot in the genus ''Neophema'' native to Eastern Australia, from southeastern Queensland, through New South Wales and into north-eastern Victoria. It was described by George Shaw in 1792. A small lightly-built parrot at around 20 cm (8 in) long and in weight, it exhibits sexual dimorphism. The male is predominantly green with more yellowish underparts and a bright turquoise blue face. Its wings are predominantly blue with red shoulders. The female is generally duller and paler, with a pale green breast and yellow belly, and lacks the red wing patch. Found in grasslands and open woodlands dominated by ''Eucalyptus'' and ''Callitris'' species, the turquoise parrot feeds mainly on grasses and seeds and occasionally flowers, fruit and scale insects. It nests in hollows of gum trees. Much of its habitat has been altered and potential nesting sites lost. Predominantly sedentary, the turquoise parrot can be locally nomadic. Populations appear to be recovering from a crash in the early 20th century. The turquoise parrot has been kept in captivity since the 19th century, and several colour variants exist. ==Taxonomy and naming== Well known around the Sydney district at the time of European settlement in 1788, the turquoise parrot was described by George Shaw as ''Psittacus pulchellus'' in 1792, the species name ''pulchellus'' being Latin for "very pretty" and referring to its plumage. He called it the Turquoisine after its turquoise face patch. The holotype likely ended up in the Leverian collection in England, and was lost when the collection was broken up and sold. German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein gave it the scientific name ''Psittacus edwardsii'' in 1811, based on François Levaillant's description of the species as ''la Perruche Edwards'' in his 1805 work ''Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets''.〔 Levaillant named it in honour of the English naturalist George Edwards. William Swainson used Shaw's name in 1823 in his work ''Zoological Illustrations'', noting that it was "impossible to represent this superb little creature in its full beauty". Drawing on the previous works, René Primevère Lesson described it as ''Lathamus azureus'' in 1830,〔 the species name being the Medieval Latin word ''azureus'' "blue". Italian ornithologist Tommaso Salvadori defined the new genus ''Neophema'' in 1891, placing the turquoise parrot within it and giving it its current scientific name. There is little geographical variation, with some minor local differences in the amount of orange on the belly. In 1915, Gregory Mathews described a subspecies ''dombrainii'' from Victoria on the basis of more prominent red on the scapulars; however, this distinction was not confirmed on review with New South Wales specimens,〔 and hence no subspecies are recognised. One of six species of grass parrot in the genus ''Neophema'', it is most closely related to the scarlet-chested parrot. The two are an allopatric species pair, and are the only two species in the genus to exhibit marked sexual dimorphism—namely the male and female being different in appearance. The English common name of the turquoise parrot has varied between chestnut-shouldered parakeet, chestnut-shouldered grass-parakeet, chestnut-shouldered grass-parrot, chestnut-winged grass-parakeet, chestnut-winged grass-parrot, and turquoisine grass parrot, this last name commonly used in aviculture. The name red-shouldered parakeet was incorrectly applied to this species, as it was an alternative name for the paradise parrot. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Turquoise parrot」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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