Antipodes parakeet

The Antipodes parakeet or Antipodes Island parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor) is a parrot in the family Psittaculidae that is endemic to the Antipodes Islands of New Zealand. It is one of two parrot species found on the islands, and one of only five ground-dwelling parrots in the world. They are long-living birds that may live up to 10 years of age, but the introduction of mice that compete with them for food was a threat to their survival on the Antipodes Islands until the mice were successfully eradicated from the Islands in 2016 (confirmed 2018). Unusually for parrots, they sometimes prey upon other birds, a trait shared by another New Zealand parrot, the kea. Taxonomy The Antipodes parakeet was depicted in 1831 by the English artist Edward Lear in his Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae, or Parrots. Lear used the common name "Uniform parakeet" and coined the binomial name Platycercus unicolor. The species is now placed in the genus Cyanoramphus that was introduced in 1854 by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. Its closest relative is Reischek's parakeet, which also lives on the Antipodes Islands. Other relatives include the Norfolk parakeet, Society parakeet and Chatham parakeet. Description It is the largest species in the genus Cyanoramphus at 30 cm (12 in) long. and makes a penetrating kok-kok-kok-kok noise.