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| Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis carolinensis) |
| syn. Psittacus carolinensis |
| distribution: USA: Florida; Georgia; North Carolina; South Carolina; Virginia; West Virginia |
| local name: Carolina Parakeet (English) Kelinky (Chickasaw) Pot pot chee (Seminole) Puzzi la née (Seminole) |
| size: 35 cm (length) extinction date: 1918 |
| The Carolina Parakeet was
the only naturally native North American parrot species. The particular
range of its distribution is not known exactly, bones of this species, for
example, were found in Canada, whereas historical records are limited to
the south west of the USA. In the 19-th century the Carolina Parakeet was one of the most common parrots in the European bird trade, especially in Germany. There were even approaches in Germany to keep this species in free flying flocks, resp. to release it into the wild. One of these free flying flocks, which was kept by Hans Freiherr von Berlepsch in Seebach / Thuringia, and which even has started to reproduce, was killed by a resident publican within a few days, probably about 1876. In their actual native range, in North America, the farmers declared the parakeets as a agricultural pest, and therefore heavily hunted them. The last certain known individual of the Carolina Parakeet, a male, died in the year 1918 in the Zoo of Cincinnati / Ohio. |
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| above: Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis carolinensis) Photo: Alexander Lang |
| Louisiana Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis ludovicianus) |
| syn. Psittacus ludovicianus |
| distribution: USA: Illinois (?); Kentucky (?); Louisiana; Missouri (?); Ohio (?) |
| local name: Louisiana Parakeet (Englisch) |
| size: 35 cm (length) extinction date: ca. 1920 (?) |
| The Louisiana Parakeet
differed from the nominate race by a more colourful and more bluish
feathering. The particular ranges of distribution of the both subspecies of the Carolina Parrot are unfortunately not exactly known, but it is thought that both areas were separated from eachother by the Appalachian Mountains. |
| References: - H. von Berlepsch: Der Karolinasittich im Freien. Gefiederte Welt S. 250-252. 1874 - Dieter Luther: Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt. Westarp Wissenschaften 1986 - Errol Fuller: Extinct Birds. Penguin Books (England) 1987 - Hans-Günther Bauer; Friedericke Woog: Nichtheimische Vogelarten (Neozoen) in Deutschland, Teil 1: Auftreten, Bestände und Status. Vogelwarte 46, 2008: 157-195 |