Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily: Psittacoidea
Family: Psittaculidae
Subfamily: Platycercinae
Tribe: Platycercini
Genus: Cyanoramphus
Species: C. unicolor
Binomial name: Cyanoramphus unicolor
Common names: Antipodes parakeet, Antipodes Island parakeet.
Cyanoramphus unicolor a large, green-coloured, mostly ground-dwelling, inquisitive parakeet that is 30 cm long. It is endemic to the remote and windswept Antipodes Islands 872km southeast of Bluff, New Zealand. It is one of only five ground-dwelling parrots in the world. Their population of 2,000-3,000 is stable but their conservation status is vulnerable.
They are long-living birds that can live up to 10 years of age, but the introduction of mice that competed for food with them was a threat to their survival on the Antipodes Islands. This threat has been removed as conservationists have successfully eradicating mice from the islands.
Antipodes parakeets are quite inquisitive, territorial, probing and mischievous. They eat leaves, buds, grass, and tussock stalks, as well as sometimes feeding on seeds, flowers, and will scavenge dead seabirds. They also prey on grey-backed storm petrels, entering burrows to kill incubating adults, even digging at the entrance if it is too small. Antipodes parakeet’s nest in 2 metres tunnels beneath the island’s fibrous peat away from the wind.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
