Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Population justification
The global population is estimated to be 20,000 individuals (Garnett and Crowley 2000).
Trend justification
The population is suspected to be stable. In Victoria, the species has adapted to a new food source, the seed of the cape weed, and is reported to be increasing although this may not be a range-wide phenomenon.
The species was distributed throughout south-east Australia from the Suttor River, inland from Mackay in eastern Queensland through eastern New South Wales, including suburban Sydney, to Melbourne, Victoria. The species's range in Queensland has contracted to south of Maryborough although it is still present on Fraser Island, and its distribution in New South Wales is patchy. In Victoria, the species is largely confined to the north-east and to east Gippsland.
Current threats include fox and cat predation, loss of hollow-bearing trees in forests managed for timber, and inappropriate burning that may favour a shrubby understorey over the grassy understorey the species requires (Garnett and Crowley 2000).
Text account compilers
Ekstrom, J., Butchart, S., Harding, M., Fisher, S.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Neophema pulchella. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/turquoise-parrot-neophema-pulchella on 11/12/2023.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org on 11/12/2023.
