Golden-mantled Racket-tailed Parrots

The Golden-mantled Racket-tailed Parrots are endemic to Sulawesi (formerly known as Celebes), Togian, Lembeh Islands, Siao Island, Peleng Island, Banggai Island, Muna and Buton Island, Indonesia … CITES II – They are endangered in their natural habitat

Habitat

Green Racquet-tails can be found in the canopies of primary tropical rainforests.primary tropical rainforests. They inhabit the forest edge and cultivated areas in the lowlands and foothills or secondary growth in lowlands and mountains.

These parrots range out into scattered fruiting trees in open areas and into heavily degraded forest.

Description:

These parrots average 11 in (28 cm) in length.

The plumage is generally green. The throat, breast and abdomen are yellowish-gree and they have a rose-red patch to back of crown bordered by dull greyish-blue area. The back is bluish-grey, interspersed with green in some birds. They have a variable orange-yellow band across upper back. The wing-coverts are dull grey and the inner webs of the secondaries (shorter, upper “arm” feathers) have a pale yellow edging. The underside of the wings and tail are greenish-blue. They have two elongated middle tail-feathers with blackish-green spatule-shaped ends. The outer tail-feathers are green with black and blue tips. Their narrow periophthalmic ring is pale grey and the bill sports a pale bluish-horn colour with blackish tip. The irises are dark brown and the feet pale grey.

Female completely green and with shorter tail.

Immatures look like the females, but without the spatule-formed ends to tail-feathers. They attain their adult plumage after about 2 years.

Diet / Feeding:

Their natural diet consists of fruit (especially banana and berries), nuts and seed. They are also seen feeding in cornfields, where they can cause considerable damage to the crops.

In captivity, they should be provided with various fruits (especially banana, grapes*, apple, cactus figs, elder and rowan berries), lory food, safflower seed mixes, paddy rice, wheat, hemp seeds**, canary grass, various millets and sunflower seed (also sprouted); cooked rice; half-ripened maize; rose hips; and twice weekly egg food and hard-boiled egg, which is especially important during breeding season.

• *Grapes: It is recommended not to feed more than one grape to a LARGE parrot a day. Less for smaller birds. Some birds have developed renal failure because of grapes.
• **Hemp seeds are often referred to as “super-seeds” as they offer a complete amino acid profile, have an ideal balance of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids (Ref. GreenAndHealthy.info), and provide an impressive amount of trace minerals – they also have the highest concentration of protein in the plant kingdom.

Taxonomy:

Species: Scientific: Prioniturus platurus platurus … English: Golden-mantled Racket-tailed Parrot … Dutch: Goudrugvlagstaartpapegaai … German: Motmotpapagei … French: Perroquet à raquettes à manteau doré

Nominate Species and Sub-Species: platurus, talautensis, sinerubris

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Sub-species:

Talaud Racket-tailed Parrots:

Distribution: Talaud Islands – a group of islands located north of Sulawesi island in Indonesia. It is one of the regencies of North Sulawesi. The Talaud Islands are also the northernmost region of Indonesia, bordering the Philippines … CITES II – Endangered

Species: Scientific: Prioniturus platurus talautensis … English: Talaud Racket-tailed Parrot … Dutch: Talaud Vlagstaartpapegaai … German: Talaud Motmotpapagei … French: Perroquet à raquettes à manteau doré d’iles Ta

Taliabu Racket-tailed Parrots:

Distribution: Taliabu in the Sula Islands, Indonesia … CITES status: EXTINCT

Species: Scientific: Prioniturus platurus sinerubris … English: Taliabu Racket-tailed Parrot … Dutch: Taliabu Vlagstaartpapegaai … German: Taliabu Motmotpapagei … French: Perroquet à raquettes à manteau doré d’iles Ta

Gaurav Dhir

Gaurav is an animal enthusiast. He lives in beautiful Ontario with his energetic family. As a part of his work at beautyofbirds.com, he has been working with ace parrot trainer, Cassie Malina to understand bird behavior and learn more about how he can train his feathered companions.

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