Masked Shining-Parrot

Prosopeia personata

Content

47 cm of length and weight approximate of 322 g..

The colorful Masked Shining-Parrot (Prosopeia personata), has a plumage green over most of its body, the front of the crown, lores, cheeks and chin, are black.

The upperparts are bright pale green (with a brighter sheen on the Crown and nape). Large external coverts, primary coverts and primaries are blue with vane inner dark. Wing feathers green. Throat, top of the chest, flanks, and undertail- coverts green; center of chest and the belly bright yellow, a few feathers with the Green Tip, yellow shading in the Orange patch It is located in the lower part of the belly. Upper, the tail green; black for the part below.

The bill black; irises orange-red; legs blackish gray.

The male has the head and the bill larger that the female. The young birds have, peaks paler, less black in the face and irises brown.

El Papagayo Enmascarado (Prosopeia personata) is a large parrot, long tail which is only on an island, in Fiji.

• Sound of the Masked Shining-Parrot.

They are distributed Since the sea level, until the 1.200 m altitude, in the forest reacor and secondary growth of the Windward areas and intermediate vegetation, You can also find them in orchards of villages, agricultural fields and mangroves; Often observed along forest edges near agricultural land and in trees bordering forest watercourses.

The Masked Shining-Parrot they are usually sociable and finds them alone, in pairs, or outside the breeding season in herds up to 40 birds.

Birds are sometimes interviews flying rapidly through the forest or wandering above the canopy. Son noisy birds and they are often heard before to be seen; similar to the Red Shining-Parrot, often make calls at the first sign of a human intruder, and they are generally shy and difficult to approach when they are perched on a branch.

The breeding season occurs between July and September. The nest It is a hole or crack in a tree, or a cavity at the top of a stump. Two or more eggs White deposited inside a hollow form the implementation; the hole is expanded by making use of its powerful beak. Birds emit a strong odor.

The Masked Shining-Parrot they tend to rest the high parts of the trees, but descend to lower floors to feed on berries, and pick up the fruits of the soil; they can also attack fields.

The diet includes mainly fruit, for example, Mango (Mangifera indica), guava (Psidium guajava), Ficus figs and bananas, Although they can also be powered from flowers, insects, seeds and berries, as well as the cultivated grain.

When feed, They manipulate food with their legs using their beaks to catch small branches. They are powerful and it has been flying with a Mango between its claws.

Size of the area of distribution (reproduction / resident): 10,500 km2

The Masked Shining-Parrot they are endemic in Fiji, distributed only on the island of Viti Levu (Although the species also has been recorded in the nearby island of Ovalau in the past). In Viti Levu, It is not uncommon to see them on the inside of forests, including the surroundings of Nadarivatu and in the North of the Mount Tomanivi. In the center of Nadrau and to the East of the district Vunidawa.

The world population considered that it may be on the 5.000 specimens, but in decline due to habitat loss.

Required large trees for nesting are being felled., and tracts of mature forest are fragmented now in many areas.

The possible detrimental effect of inter-specific competition of the introduced Crimson Shining-Parrot remains study.

• Current Red List of UICN: Near threatened

• Population trend: Decreasing

The most serious threat affecting the Masked Shining-Parrot It is the decline of forests in which inhabits, with less than the 50 per cent of the forests of Viti Levu remaining. This deforestation has led to the fragmentation of remaining forest areas. The huge trees felled during the deforestation are required by the Masked Shining-Parrot nest.

Other potential threats to this species include potential competition with the introduced Crimson Shining-Parrot (Prosopeia splendens). The Masked Shining-Parrot It can also be trafficked for the pet trade, Although the related species, as the Crimson Shining-Parrot It is believed that they are most popular).

Conservation of “Masked Shining-Parrot”.

The Masked Shining-Parrot is protected by the law of Fiji. But, current legislation for the capture of wild parrots is difficult to enforce. This Parrot also appears in the Appendix II of the Convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES), which means that international trade in the species must be carefully monitored.

The Masked Shining-Parrot It lives in several reserves and parks, where can you get some protection against deforestation. It has been proposed that community forest reserves must be encouraged in Viti Levu, to prevent further deforestation, and that the population figures of the Masked Shining-Parrot in these protected areas should be monitored. But, None of these measures has been put into action

Rarely found in captivity.

According to sources, It is known that one as a specimen of this species lived 11,8 years in captivity.

– Masked Shining-Parrot, Masked Parrot, Masked Shining Parrot, Yellow-breasted Musk Parrot, Yellow-breasted Shining-Parrot (ingles).
– Perruche masquée, Perruche masquée masquée (French).
– Maskensittich, Masken-Sittich (German).
– Prosopeia personata (Portuguese).
– Papagayo Enmascarado (español).

– Order: Psittaciformes
– Family: Psittaculidae
– Genus: Prosopeia
– Scientific name: Prosopeia personata
– Citation: (Gray, GR, 1848)
– Protonimo: Coracopsis ? personata

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“Masked Shining-Parrot” (Prosopeia personata)

Sources:

– Sounds: Matthias Feuersenger (Xeno-canto)