Guadeloupe parakeet

The Guadeloupe parakeet (Psittacara labati) is a hypothetical species of parrot that would have been endemic to Guadeloupe.

Guadeloupe parakeet
1722 illustration by Labat of a Guadeloupe parakeet at the top right, with a Guadeloupe amazon and a Lesser Antillean macaw
Scientific classification
(disputed)
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Psittacara
Species:
P. labati
Binomial name
Psittacara labati
(Rothschild, 1905)
Location of Guadeloupe

Description

Jean-Baptiste Labat described a population of small parrots living on Guadeloupe:

Those of Guadaloupe are about the size of a blackbird, entirely green, except a few small red feathers, which they have on their head. Their bill is white. They are very gentle, loving, and learn to speak easily.[2]

Hypothetical restoration by John Gerrard Keulemans

Taxonomy

They were later named Conurus labati, and are now called the Guadeloupe parakeet. It has been postulated to be a separate species based on little evidence. There are no specimens or remains of the extinct parrots. Their taxonomy may never be fully elucidated, and so their postulated status as a separate species is hypothetical.[3] It is presumed to have gone extinct in the late 18th century, if it did indeed exist.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Aratinga labati". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Rothschild, Lionel Walter (1907). Extinct Birds: An Attempt to Unite in One Volume a Short Account of Those Birds which Have Become Extinct in Historical Times.
  3. Fuller, Errol (1987). Extinct Birds. Penguin Books (England). p. 131. ISBN 0-670-81787-2.


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