Newton's Parakeet (Alexandrinus exsul)
Posted on 31 December, 1875 in Extinct
Year Last Seen:
1875
Comments:
This species was endemic to the island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but it has not been recorded since 1875 and is now Extinct. It is thought that hunting and habitat loss were major contributors to its decline, and that the final blow may have been dealt by vicious storms in 1876.
Habitat:
It was a forest species which fed on fruits, nuts and seeds.
Causes:
The species's extinction was presumably caused by a combination of habitat loss and hunting (Cheke 1987).
Distribution:
Psittacula exsul was endemic to forests on Rodrigues, Mauritius (Cheke 1987). It was said to be abundant by Leguat in 1691 (Cowles 1987), but Pingré noted that it was scarce by 1761, and the last record was a bird collected in August 1875 (Forshaw 2010). It seems probable that the last few were wiped out later that year, when the island suffered 'the worst cyclonic season of the 19th century' (Cheke 1987). Two complete specimens survive, plus various subfossil bones (Cowles 1987).