Carolina Parakeet Conuropsis carolinensis Scientific name definitions

The Carolina Parakeet was once a locally abundant resident of mature sycamore-dominated bottomlands and bald cypress swamps of the southeastern and midwestern states. A bird of brilliant green, yellow, and orange coloration, it was the only native representative of the Psittacidae in its range, and it moved about in large, fast-flying flocks, adding a dramatic and seemingly tropical touch to the landscape. The Seminoles knew the species as "puzzi la nee" (literally "head of yellow") or "pot pot chee," while the Chickasaws called it "kelinky." European settlers christened it with numerous variants of "parrot" and "parakeet," ranging from "paroquet" and "paraqueet," to "parrotkite, parrakeeto, parrowceat" and "parrot queet." Noisy and conspicuous, the species was unlikely to be overlooked in any location where it regularly occurred.

Unfortunately, with no confirmed reports of its continued existence in more than 60 years, the Carolina Parakeet is now generally presumed extinct. And although many early naturalists, such as William Bartram, Alexander Wilson, and John J. Audubon wrote of the species, it never received comprehensive biological study before its passing. As a result, many aspects of its ecology and causes of extinction will probably always remain unknown or speculative.

A consumer of sandspurs, cockleburs, thistles, pine seeds, and bald cypress balls, as well as fruits, buds, and seeds of many other plant species, the Carolina Parakeet was evidently a fairly typical psittacid, with catholic feeding habits, loud vocalizations, and highly social tendencies. However, unlike many other parrots, it was clearly a species well adapted to survive cold winter weather. Although generally regarded with favor by early settlers, the parakeet was also known locally as a pest species in orchards and fields of grain, and was persecuted to some extent for crop depredations. Its vulnerability to shooting was universally acknowledged and was due to a strong tendency for flocks not to flee under fire, but to remain near wounded conspecifics that were calling in distress. Nevertheless, McKinley (Mckinley 1960 Mckinley, D. (1960). The Carolina Parakeet in pioneer Missouri. Wilson Bulletin 72:274-287. Close , Mckinley 1980 Mckinley, D. (1980). The balance of decimating factors and recruitment in extinction of the Carolina Parakeet, Pt. 1. Indiana Audubon Quarterly 58 (1):8-18. Close , Mckinley 1985 Mckinley, D. (1985). The Carolina Parakeet in Florida. Florida Ornithol. Soc. Special Publ. 2:1-65. Close ) presented a persuasive case that shooting to avenge or avert crop depredations was unlikely as the major cause of extinction.

In addition to being shot for depredations, the species was also sometimes shot for sport, for food, or for its colorful feathers. Additionally, it was captured for the pet trade with some frequency, although it was not a good talker. More than 800 study and display specimens were procured by various museums and private collectors (Hahn 1963 Hahn, P. (1963). Where is that vanished bird? An index to the known specimens of the extinct and near extinct North American species. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press. Close , Mckinley 1985 Mckinley, D. (1985). The Carolina Parakeet in Florida. Florida Ornithol. Soc. Special Publ. 2:1-65. Close ), but while this may seem like a substantial total, many were collected when there were likely many tens of thousands of parakeets still in existence, and it is easy to overestimate the importance of such collecting in the species' disappearance.

Destruction of the original bottomland forests in its range was also occurring as the species declined and may have played a role in its loss (Askins 1999b Askins, R. A. (1999b). Restoring North America's birds. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press. Close ). In addition, McKinley (Mckinley 1960 Mckinley, D. (1960). The Carolina Parakeet in pioneer Missouri. Wilson Bulletin 72:274-287. Close , Mckinley 1980 Mckinley, D. (1980). The balance of decimating factors and recruitment in extinction of the Carolina Parakeet, Pt. 1. Indiana Audubon Quarterly 58 (1):8-18. Close ) hypothesized harmful competition for nest and roost holes from an introduced species, the honeybee (Apis mellifera), as well as a steady loss of potential parakeet nest trees intrinsic to the harvest of wild hives. Finally, though evidence is inconclusive, there are grounds for suspecting that diseases, perhaps especially exotic diseases transmitted from poultry, may have been important in the parakeet's demise.

Few nests were ever reported for the Carolina Parakeet, and for most of these, documentation was extremely sketchy. No information at all is available on many other aspects of the species' biology, such as age of first breeding, mating systems, frequency of breeding, nest-site fidelity, and age-specific mortality rates. Further, the data on many features, such as feeding habits and sex ratios, are troubled by major observational biases. And despite the abundance of museum specimens in existence, practically no specimens were collected in mid- to late summer, precluding a full documentation of molt or of potential variations in Juvenile plumage.

Thus there are no known ways to evaluate many issues in Carolina Parakeet biology except through extrapolations from the biology of closely related species and through reasoned interpretations of the fragmentary writings of observers who have long since passed from the scene. Fortunately, early naturalists prepared a few accounts with substantial amounts of useful information. Especially valuable have been the historical firsthand accounts of Wilson (Wilson 1811 Wilson, A. (1811). American Ornithology. Volume 4. Philadelphia, PA, USA. Close ), Audubon (Audubon 1831 Audubon, J. J. (1831). Ornithological Biography. Volume 1. Neill & Co. Printers, Edinburgh and London, England. Close ), Charles Maynard (Maynard 1881 Maynard, C. J. (1881). The birds of eastern North America. Newtonville, MA: C. J. Maynard & Co. Close ), Frank Chapman (Chapman 1890a Chapman, F. M. (1890a). Notes on the Carolina paroquet (Conurus carolinensis) in Florida. Abstr., Proc. Linn. Soc. 2:4-6. Close , Chapman 1932b Chapman, F. M. (1932b). Notes on the plumage of North American birds (94th paper). Bird-Lore 34:328-330. Close ), and Charles Bendire (Bendire 1895 Bendire, C. (1895). Life histories of North American birds, from the parrots to the grackles, with special reference to their breeding habits and eggs. U.S. National Museum Special Bulletin 3. United States National Museum, Washington, DC, USA. Close ). Excellent reviews of the early parakeet literature were provided by Amos Butler (Butler 1892a Butler, A. W. (1892a). Notes on the range and habits of the Carolina Parakeet. Auk 9:49-56. Close ) and Albert Wright (Wright 1912a Wright, A. H. (1912a). Early records of the Carolina Paroquet. Auk 29:343-363. Close ). Likewise, the monograph of Joseph Forshaw (Forshaw 1989 Forshaw, J. M. (1989). Parrots of the world. 3rd ed. Melbourne, Australia: Lansdowne Editions. Close ) has provided many useful points of comparison with other parrot species.

But surely the most important source materials available have been the many insightful Carolina Parakeet papers of Daniel McKinley, which appeared between 1959 and 1985. McKinley's publications provide an exhaustive annotated bibliography of early accounts of the species and offer some of the most valuable analyses available of its ecology and conservation woes. They also constitute some of the most forthright and delightfully written ornithological essays of recent times. This Birds of North America account owes a major debt to McKinley's painstaking efforts.

The present account is also based on interviews conducted in 1979 in the region where the species made its last major stand in central Florida. There, with the help of Rod Chandler, NFRS located many senior citizens who recalled personal experiences with the parakeet in the 1910s and 1920s. Their recollections provide a valuable and in some respects surprising commentary on the species' habits and causes of extinction.