LC
Turquoise Parrot Neophema pulchella



Justification

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 under 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 size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (under 10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be over 10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (over 30% decline over ten years or three generations). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern. The status of this species was recently reassessed against the IUCN Red List criteria at national level for the Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020 (Garnet and Baker 2021), and not found to approach or meet the thresholds for threatened status, thereby supporting its continuing treatment as globally Least Concern.

Population justification
The global population is estimated to be 20,000 individuals (Garnett and Crowley 2000). 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.

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.

Distribution and population

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.

Ecology

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).

Acknowledgements

Text account compilers
Rutherford, C.A.

Contributors
Garnett, S.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Turquoise Parrot Neophema pulchella. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/turquoise-parrot-neophema-pulchella on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.