Scientific Report into the Turquoise Parakeet

(Neophema Pulchella)

Completed By Jonathan Wearing Date 5/09/2010

Contents

Introduction................................................................................Page 2 Description...Page 2 Environment................................................................................Page 2 Elements of Ecological System.....................................................Page 2-3 Food Chain and Food Web...........................................................Page 3 Adaptations..................................................................................Page 4 Appendices...................................................................................Page 5 Appendix A....................................................................................Page 5 Appendix B....................................................................................Page 6 Appendix C....................................................................................Page 7 Appendix D....................................................................................Page 8 Bibliography..................................................................................Page 9

Introduction
The Turquoise Parakeet (Neophema Pulchella) from the family of Neophema is an endangered species of parakeet. There are only 20,000 of these birds alive today. Although it may seem like a large amount, but for them to be primary consumers, it is not a lot.

Description
The Turquoise Parakeet attains its plumage after its first moult. This is at around the 5 th month of their life. The male Turquoise Parakeet has a general plumage of green. Their facial area is blue with paler cheeks. The throat, breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts are yellow, the throat and breast often have a slight orange tinge. The inner lesser wing-coverts are dark red, the bend of the wing, outer lesser and median wing-coverts are turquoise, the outer webs of the flight feathers and under wing-coverts are dark blue. The middle tail feathers upside is green; the outer is green with yellowish tips. The tails underside is pale yellow, the bill is greyish-black. The narrow peri ophthalmic ring is grey. The iris is dark brown and the feet are a greyish-horn colour. The female is the same as the male but has a blue facial area. Lures are yellowish-white; the red wing feathers are absent. The ear-coverts, throat and upper breast are green and the underwing has a pale stripe. The weight of a male Turquoise Parakeet is 36-45g whilst the female is approximately 38g. They are about 21cm in length and have the usual lifespan for a parakeet of 8-15 years. They are quiet birds whose call is rather melodic. Their call is a tinkling sound, while at other times they may emit a sharp sit-sit alarm call. They fly usually between 48 and 64 km/h but when on land they will hobble quite slowly.

Environment
Turquoise Parakeets live in south-east Australia from Victoria to Queensland (See Appendix A). They live in the forest, open woodland, savannah with trees, groups of trees along water courses and cultivated areas on slopes. They usually live in pairs or small groups; sometimes there are flocks of up to thirty birds. They visit a water source in the early morning to drink and are very cautious there. During the day, they can be seen foraging on the ground, perching on bushes, trees, telegraph poles or fence posts. They are not shy when feeding although they prefer to forage in the shade of tall trees.

Elements of Ecological System

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There are many organisms and other things that affect the Turquoise Parakeets life. From the bees and butterflies that pollinate the plants to allow them to live and reproduce, the wedge tail eagles that hunt them and the illegal bird trappers. There is also the weather effects that can also have affect on the grasskeets. The humidity, sunlight, rain fall, and temperature are most of them. Humans also have effect on the Turquoisines as there are trees being cleared that could be part of their habitat or telegraph poles being inserted into their natural environment.

Food Chain and Food Web

Turquoise Parakeets consume grass seeds, weeds, berries and vegetable matter found on the ground. The will also gnaw on tree branches so that their beak stays trimmed. They may also use cuttlebone found on beaches which also supplies calcium. The food chain (See Appendix B) with a Turquoise Parakeet would have these organisms: Berries as the producers and autotrophs as they are one of the main sources of food for the Turquoise Parakeet. Turquoise Parakeets as the primary consumer, a heterotroph and herbivore are one of the sources of food for cats which are the secondary consumers, heterotroph and omnivore. Eating the cats is the wedge-tailed eagle which is the tertiary consumer, heterotroph and carnivore. The food web (See Appendix C) would consist of berries, millet spray (a seed) turquoise parakeets, mice, foxes, cats, and the wedge-tailed eagle. The berries and millet spray being the producers and autotrophs, the parakeets and mice being the primary consumers, heterotrophs and herbivores, the foxes and cats being the secondary consumers, heterotrophs and omnivores, and the wedge-tailed eagles which are the tertiary consumers, heterotrophs and carnivores.

Reproduction
Turquoise Parakeets mature slower than other grasskeets. However, they can still breed as one year olds. Turquoise Parakeets dont build a nest to breed in; instead, they reproduce in the lining of dust in logs and trees. The female will lay four to seven eggs (See Appendix D); they may breed two or if they are under the most advantageous conditions, even three clutches a year. Their breeding season is august to January. The incubation of the eggs takes eighteen to nineteen days; the female will only leave the nest to defecate. The fledging period is approximately four to five weeks. The chicks will be fed from their mother who will regurgitate food from her beak to their beaks. The chicks will be independent after three weeks and will then separate from their parents in search of their life long partner.

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Adaptations
The Turquoise Parakeet has to adapt there are many things that threaten these birds to critically endangered including the clearing of grassy woodland and open forest loss of hollow bearing trees, deterioration of habitat through heavy grazing, firewood collection and establishment of exotic pastures, predation by foxes and cats and illegal trapping of birds and collection of eggs which often results in the demolition of hollows. After having been considered as extinct in the wild by 1915, the Turquoise Parakeet population began to recover by the 1920s. They had been formerly caught in large numbers for the cage bird industry, and were also shot for food and as a pie filling.

Turquoise Parakeet

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Appendices
Appendix A: Distribution map of the Turquoise Parakeet

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Appendix B: Food chain of the Turquoise Parakeet

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Appendix C: Food Web of a Turquoise Parakeet

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Appendix D: Eggs of the Turquoise Parakeet

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Bibliography
http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Neophema-pulchella http://www.earthsendangered.com/profile-332.html http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp& sid=1486&m=0 http://threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10555

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