Coracopsis nigra, Photo: Michael Lahanas Cladus: Eukaryota
Name Coracopsis nigra (Linnaeus, 1758) Vernacular names Deutsch: Kleiner Vasa Rabenpapageis The Lesser Vasa Parrot or Black Parrot Coracopsis nigra is a black coloured parrot native to Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, and Seychelles.[1] It is one of two species of vasa parrots, the other being the Greater Vasa Parrot C. vasa; although, the subspecies C. n. barklyi, of the Seychelles, is sometimes split as a third species, the Seychelles Black Parrot. The Lesser Vasa Parrot was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae; it was given the name of Psittacus niger,[2] meaning "black parrot". It was later transferred to the new genus Coracopsis in 1826. Lesser Vasa Parrots inhabit the mangrove swamps and evergreen forests of Madagascar and the Seychelles Islands. They eat seeds, blossoms and fruit - especially berries and mangos. They build their nests in tree hollows and go through courtship in February. During this time, the female may shed the feathers on her head giving it a yellowish tone. The male's beak may also turn white during this time. Taxonomy There are three of four subspecies depending on classification systems: Coracopsis nigra, (Linnaeus) 1758 Coracopsis nigra sibilans and Coracopsis nigra barklyi are considered a single subspecies by some authors. References ^ a b BirdLife International (2008). Coracopsis nigra. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 25 February 2009. Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License |
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