Editing Carolina parakeet

{{Short description|Extinct species of parakeet native to North America}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Naturalis Biodiversity Center - ZMA.AVES.3159 - Conuropsis carolinensis Linnaeus, 1758 - Psittacidae - skin specimen.jpeg
| image_caption = Mounted specimen in the [[Naturalis Biodiversity Center]]
| status = EX
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |title=''Conuropsis carolinensis'' |year=2021 |page=e.T22685776A195444267 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22685776A195444267.en|access-date=20 November 2022}}</ref>
| status2 = GX
| status2_system = TNC
| status2_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=''Conuropsis carolinensis'' |version=2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105252/Conuropsis_carolinensis |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref>
| extinct = 1918
| display_parents = 2
| genus = Conuropsis
| parent_authority = [[Tommaso Salvadori|Salvadori]], 1891
| species = carolinensis
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms =
''Psittacus carolinensis'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small><br/>
''Conurus carolinensis'' <small>[[René-Primevère Lesson|Lesson]], 1831</small>
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = ''C. c. carolinensis''<br/>
''C. c. ludovicianus''
}}

The '''Carolina parakeet''' ('''''Conuropsis carolinensis'''''), or '''Carolina conure''', is an [[extinct species]] of small green [[neotropical parrot]] with a bright yellow head, reddish orange face, and pale beak that was native to the [[eastern United States|Eastern]], [[Midwest]], and [[Great Plains|Plains states]] of the United States. It was the only indigenous [[parrot]] within its range, and one of only three parrot species native to the United States. The others are the [[thick-billed parrot]], now [[Local extinction|extirpated]],{{r|usfwstbp2012}} and the [[green parakeet]], still present in [[Texas]];{{r|tamugp}} a fourth parrot species, the [[red-crowned amazon]], is debated.{{r|tamurcp|shackelford2016}}<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |title=''Amazona viridigenalis'' |year=2021 |page=e.T22686259A152441187|access-date=20 November 2022}}</ref> 

The Carolina parakeet was called ''puzzi la née'' ("head of yellow") or ''pot pot chee'' by the [[Seminole]] and ''kelinky'' in [[Chickasaw language|Chickasaw]].<ref name=Snyder>{{cite journal |last1=Snyder |first1=Noel F. |last2=Russell |first2=Keith |date=2002 |title=Carolina Parakeet (''Conuropsis carolinensis'') |editor1-last=Poole |editor1-first=A. |editor2-last=Gill |editor2-first=F. |journal=The Birds of North America |volume=667 |publisher=The Birds of North America, Inc. |location=Philadelphia, PA |doi=10.2173/bna.667 |url=http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/667|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Though formerly prevalent within its range, the bird had become rare by the middle of the 19th century. The last confirmed sighting in the wild was of the ''C. c. ludovicianus'' subspecies in 1910. The last known specimen, a male named [[Incas (Carolina parakeet)|Incas]], perished in captivity at the [[Cincinnati Zoo]] in 1918,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tallman |first1=Dan A. |last2=Swanson |first2=David L. |last3=Palmer |first3=Jeffrey S. |date=2002 |title=Birds of South Dakota |publisher=Midstates/Quality Quick Print |isbn=0-929918-06-1 |page=181}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://johnjames.audubon.org/last-carolina-parakeet|title=The last Carolina Parakeet|date=2015-12-22|work=John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove|access-date=2018-10-30|language=en}}</ref> and the species was declared [[extinct]] in 1939.

The earliest reference to these parrots was in 1583 in [[Florida]] reported by Sir [[George Peckham (merchant)|George Peckham]] in ''A True Report of the Late Discoveries of the Newfound Lands'' of expeditions conducted by English explorer [[Sir Humphrey Gilbert]], who notes that explorers in North America "doe testifie that they have found in those countryes;&nbsp;... parrots". They were first scientifically described in English naturalist [[Mark Catesby]]'s two-volume ''Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'' published in [[London]] in 1731 and 1743.

Carolina parakeets were probably [[Toxic birds|poisonous]] – French-American naturalist and painter [[John James Audubon|John J. Audubon]] noted that cats apparently died from eating them, and they are known to have eaten the toxic seeds of [[cocklebur]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Birkhead |first=Tim |date=2012 |title=Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird |url=https://archive.org/details/birdsensewhatits0000birk/page/123 |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Walker & Company |isbn=978-0-8027-7966-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/birdsensewhatits0000birk/page/123 123] }}</ref><ref name="Phillips">{{cite journal |title=Plumes of Poison |journal=Audubon Magazine |first=Kristin Elise |last=Phillips |url=http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/webexclusives/plumesOfPoison.html |access-date=8 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128223813/http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/ |archive-date=28 January 2016 |df=dmy }}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Conuropsis carolinensis ludovicianus.jpg|thumb|upright|''C. c. ludovicianus'' by [[John James Audubon]]]] 
''Carolinensis'' is a species of the [[genus]] ''Conuropsis'', one of numerous genera of [[New World]] [[Neotropical]] parrots in family [[Psittacidae]] of [[true parrot]]s.

The binomial ''Psittacus carolinensis'' was assigned by Swedish zoologist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' published in 1758. The species was given its own genus, ''Conuropsis'', by Italian zoologist and ornithologist [[Tommaso Salvadori]] in 1891 in his ''Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum'', volume&nbsp;20. The name is derived from the Greek-ified ''conure'' ("parrot of the genus ''[[Conurus]]''" an obsolete name of genus ''Aratinga'') + ''-opsis'' ("likeness of") and Latinized ''Carolina'' (from [[Carolana]], an English colonial province{{#tag:ref|A reference to the 17th&nbsp;century English province of [[Carolana]], called ''Florida'' by the Spaniards and ''La&nbsp;Louisiane'' by the French, a grant from King Charles&nbsp;I, which included the territory extending from the Atlantic Ocean to New Mexico, between the 30th and 36th&nbsp;parallels of latitude, which encompasses on the Atlantic Seaboard the modern states of North and South Carolina |group=Note}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Coxe |first=Daniel |date=1722 |title=A description of the English province of Carolana |url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_35450 |location=London|isbn=9780665354502 }}</ref>) + ''-ensis'' (of or "from a place"), therefore a bird "like a conure from Carolina".

Two subspecies are recognized: The [[Louisiana]] subspecies of the Carolina parakeet, ''C. c. ludovicianus'',{{#tag:ref|''ludovicianus'', Latinized "of Louisiana", a reference to the [[Louisiana Territory]] of the early 19th&nbsp;century, which does not include the modern state of Louisiana.|group=Note}} was slightly different in color from the [[nominate subspecies]], being more bluish-green and generally of a somewhat subdued coloration, and became extinct in much the same way, but at a somewhat earlier date (early 1910s). The [[Appalachian Mountains]] separated these birds from the eastern ''C.&nbsp;c.&nbsp;carolinensis''.<ref name="BurgioCarlson2017">{{cite journal |last1=Burgio |first1=Kevin R. |last2=Carlson |first2=Colin J. |last3=Tingley |first3=Morgan W. |title=Lazarus ecology: Recovering the distribution and migratory patterns of the extinct Carolina parakeet |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=7 |issue=14 |year=2017 |pages=5467–5475 |issn=2045-7758 |doi=10.1002/ece3.3135 |pmid=28770082 |pmc=5528215|bibcode=2017EcoEv...7.5467B }}</ref>

===Evolution===
According to a study of [[mitochondrial DNA]] recovered from museum specimens, their closest living relatives include some of the South American ''[[Aratinga]]'' parakeets: The [[Nanday parakeet]], the [[sun conure]], and the [[golden-capped parakeet]]. The authors note the bright yellow and orange plumage and blue wing feathers found in ''C. carolinensis'' are traits shared by another species, the [[jandaya parakeet]] (''A.&nbsp;jandaya''), that was not sampled in the study, but is generally thought to be closely related.{{#tag:ref|Sun parakeet, golden-capped parakeet and jenday parakeet together with sulphur-breasted parakeet are collectively referred to as the ''[[Sun parakeet#Taxonomy|Aratinga solstitialis complex]]''; they are so closely related that they are considered by some authorities to be subspecies of A.&nbsp;solstitialis.|group=Note}} To help resolve the divergence time, a whole genome of a preserved specimen has now been sequenced.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gelabert|first1=Pere|last2=Sandoval-Velasco|first2=Marcela|last3=Serres|first3=Aitor|last4=Manuel|first4=Marc de|last5=Renom|first5=Pere|last6=Margaryan|first6=Ashot|last7=Stiller|first7=Josefin|last8=de-Dios|first8=Toni|last9=Fang|first9=Qi|last10=Feng|first10=Shaohong|last11=Mañosa|first11=Santi|date=2020-01-06|title=Evolutionary History, Genomic Adaptation to Toxic Diet, and Extinction of the Carolina Parakeet|journal=Current Biology|language=en|volume=30|issue=1|pages=108–114.e5|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.10.066|issn=0960-9822|pmid=31839456|doi-access=free|bibcode=2020CBio...30E.108G |hdl=10230/43920|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Conuropsis DNA">{{cite journal|last1=Kirchman |first1=Jeremy J. |last2=Schirtzinger |first2=Erin E. |last3=Wright |first3=Timothy F. |date=2012 |title=Phylogenetic relationships of the extinct Carolina Parakeet (''Conuropsis carolinensis'') inferred from DNA sequence data |doi=10.1525/auk.2012.11259 |journal=The Auk |volume=129 |issue=2 |pages=197–204 |s2cid=86659430 |url=http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/twright/publications/Kirchmanetal2012Auk_PROOFS.pdf |access-date=22 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919173555/http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/twright/publications/Kirchmanetal2012Auk_PROOFS.pdf |archive-date=19 September 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bennu |first=Devorah |date=19 September 2012 |title=Extinct Carolina parakeet gives glimpse into evolution of American parrots |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2012/sep/19/1?CMP=twt_gu |access-date=22 September 2012}}</ref> The Carolina parakeet colonized North America about 5.5&nbsp;million years ago. This was well before North America and South America were joined by the formation of the [[Panama]] [[land bridge]] about 3.5&nbsp;[[million years ago|mya]]. Since the Carolina parakeets' more distant relations are geographically closer to its own historic range while its closest relatives are more geographically distant to it, these data are consistent with the generally accepted hypothesis that Central and [[North America]] were colonized at different times by distinct lineages of parrots – parrots that originally invaded South America from [[Antarctica]] some time after the breakup of [[Gondwana]], where Neotropical [[parrot#Taxonomy|parrots originated]] approximately 50&nbsp;mya.
[[File:AudubonCarolinaParakeet2.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration by [[John James Audubon]]]]
The following [[cladogram]] shows the placement of the Carolina parakeet among its closest relatives, after a DNA study by Kirchman ''et al''. (2012):<ref name="Conuropsis DNA"/>
{{clade
|style=font-size:100%; line-height:100%
|label1=[[Arini (tribe)|Arini]]
|1={{clade
 |label1=
 |1={{clade
  |label1=
  |1=''[[Cyanopsitta spixii]]'' (Spix's macaw)
  |2={{clade
   |label1=
   |1=''[[Orthopsittaca]]'' (red-bellied macaw)
   |2={{clade
    |label1=
    |1={{clade |label1=|1=''[[Primolius]]'' (contains three species) }}
    |label2=[[Ara (bird)|''Ara'']]
    |2={{clade
     |label1=
     |1=''[[Ara macao]]'' (scarlet macaw)
     |2=''[[Ara glaucogularis]]'' (blue-throated macaw)
 }} }} }} }}
 |2={{clade
  |label1=
  |1={{clade
   |label1=
   |1='''''Conuropsis carolinensis''''' ('''Carolina parakeet''')
   }}
  |label2=''[[Aratinga]]''
  |2={{clade
   |label1=
   |1={{clade |label1=|1=''[[Aratinga nenday]]'' (Nanday parakeet)}}
   |2={{clade
    |label1=
    |1=''[[Aratinga solstitialis]]'' (sun conure)
    |2=''[[Aratinga auricapillus]]'' (golden-capped parakeet)
}} }} }} }} }}

A fossil parrot, designated ''Conuropsis fratercula'', was described based on a single [[humerus]] from the [[Miocene]] Sheep Creek Formation (possibly late [[Hemingfordian]], c.&nbsp;16&nbsp;mya, possibly later) of [[Snake River (Nebraska)|Snake River]], Nebraska.<ref name=Wetmore>{{cite journal |last=Wetmore |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Wetmore |date=1926 |title=Descriptions of additional fossil birds from the Miocene of Nebraska |journal=[[American Museum Novitates]] |issue=211 |pages=1–5 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/3188/1/N0211.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612110112/http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/3188/1/N0211.pdf |archive-date=2007-06-12 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was a smaller bird, three-quarters the size of the Carolina parakeet. "The present ''species'' is of peculiar interest as it represents the first known parrot-like bird to be described as a fossil from North America." (Wetmore 1926;<ref name="Wetmore"/> italics added) However, it is not completely certain that the species is correctly assigned to ''Conuropsis''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Olson |first=Storrs L. |author-link=Storrs L. Olson |editor1-last=Farner |editor1-first=Donald S. |editor2-last=King |editor2-first=James R. |editor3-last=Parkes |editor3-first=Kenneth C. |date=1985 |title=Avian Biology |volume=8 |isbn=0-12-249408-3 |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |location=New York |chapter=The fossil record of birds. Section VIII. K. Psittaciformes |pages=120–121}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.110043 - Conuropsis carolinensis carolinensis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Carolina parakeet - specimen - video.webm|thumb|upright|thumbtime=0:05|Turnaround video of a ''C. c. carolinensis'' specimen at [[Naturalis Biodiversity Center]]]]
The Carolina parakeet was a small, green parrot very similar in size and coloration to the extant [[jandaya parakeet|jenday parakeet]] and [[sun conure]] – the sun conure being its closest living relative.<ref name="Katz">{{cite magazine |last=Katz |first=Brigit |date=13 December 2019 |title=The extinction of this U.S. parrot was quick and driven by humans |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/extinction-us-parrot-was-quick-and-driven-humans-180973786/ |access-date=14 July 2023}}</ref>

The majority of the parakeets' plumage was green with lighter green underparts, a bright yellow head and orange forehead and face extending to behind the eyes and upper cheeks (lores). The shoulders were yellow, continuing down the outer edge of the wings. The primary feathers were mostly green, but with yellow edges on the outer primaries. Thighs were green towards the top and yellow towards the feet. Male and female adults were identical in plumage, however males were slightly larger than females ([[sexually dimorphic]] only in size). Their legs and feet were light brown. They share the [[zygodactyl]] feet common to all the parrot family. Their eyes were ringed by white skin and their beaks were pale flesh colored. These birds weigh about 3.5&nbsp;oz.,{{#tag:ref|A notable conflict exists over the weight of this bird, with most references reporting 280&nbsp;g (about 10&nbsp;oz), but that would make the bird an improbable 2.5&nbsp;times as heavy as the similarly sized, closely related [[Nanday parakeet]], whose weight is given as {{convert|100|-|140|g|oz|abbr=on}}|group=Note}} are 13&nbsp;in. long, and have wingspans of 21–23&nbsp;in.

Young Carolina parakeets differed slightly in coloration from adults. The face and entire body were green, with paler underparts. They lacked yellow or orange plumage on the face, wings, and thighs. Hatchlings were covered in mouse-gray down, until about 39–40&nbsp;days old, when green wings and tails appeared. Fledglings had full adult plumage around 1&nbsp;year of age.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Conuropsis carolinensis'' |year=c. 1998 |website=NatureServe.org |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105252/Conuropsis_carolinensis |access-date=2024-08-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Fuller |first = Errol |author-link = Errol Fuller |year = 2001 |title = Extinct Birds |edition = Revised |publisher = Comstock |location = New York |isbn = 978-0-8014-3954-4 |page=150}}</ref>{{harvp|Snyder|Russell|2002}}

These birds were fairly long-lived, at least in captivity: A pair was kept at the [[Cincinnati Zoo]] for over 35&nbsp;years.

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Conuropsis carolinensis.jpg|thumb|Photo of a live pet specimen, 1906]] 
The Carolina parakeet had the northernmost range of any known parrot. It was found from southern [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[Wisconsin]] to [[Kentucky]], [[Tennessee]], and the [[Gulf of Mexico]], from the [[East Coast of the United States|Atlantic Seaboard]] to as far west as eastern [[Colorado]]. It lived in [[old-growth forest]]s along rivers and in swamps.<ref name="Griggs">{{cite book |last=Griggs |first=Jack L. |url=https://archive.org/details/americanbirdcons00grig |title=American Bird Conservancy's Field Guide to All the Birds of North America |date=1997 |publisher=HarperPerennial |isbn=0-06-273028-2 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Battaglia|first1=L.L.|last2=Conner|first2=W.H.|year=2018|chapter=Old-growth and mature remnant floodplain forests of the southeastern United States|title=Ecology and Recovery of Eastern Old-Growth Forests|pages=21–37|location=Washington, DC|publisher=Island Press/Center for Resource Economics}}</ref> Its range was described by early explorers thus: the 43rd parallel as the northern limit, the 26th as the most southern, the 73rd and 106th meridians as the eastern and western boundaries, respectively, the range included all or portions of at least 28 states.{{#tag:ref|Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, N. Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, S. Carolina, S. Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, W. Virginia, Wisconsin|group=Note}} Its habitats were old-growth wetland forests along rivers and in swamps, especially in the Mississippi-Missouri drainage basin with large hollow trees including [[Taxodium|cypress]] and [[Platanus occidentalis|sycamore]] to use as roosting and nesting sites.

Only very rough estimates of the birds' former prevalence can be made, with an estimated range of 20,000 to 2.5 million km<sup>2</sup>, and population density of 0.5 to 2.0 parrots per km<sup>2</sup>, population estimates range from tens of thousands to a few million birds (though the densest populations occurred in Florida covering 170,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>, so hundreds of thousands of the birds may have been in that state alone).

The species may have appeared as a very rare [[vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]] in places as far north as [[southern Ontario]] in [[Canada]]. A few bones, including a [[pygostyle]] found at the Calvert Site in southern Ontario, came from the Carolina parakeet. The possibility remains open that this specimen was taken there for ceremonial purposes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Godfrey |first=W. Earl |date=1986 |title=The Birds of Canada |edition=revised |publisher=[[National Museum of Natural History]] |isbn=0-660-10758-9 |page=303}}</ref>

==Behavior and diet==
[[File:Live captive Carolina parakeet.jpg|thumb|upright|This live captive bird was photographed by [[Robert Wilson Shufeldt]] around 1900.]] 
The bird lived in huge, noisy flocks of as many as 300 birds. It built its nest in a hollow tree, laying two to five<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Conuropsis_carolinensis|title=''Conuropsis carolinensis''|last=Amrhein|first=Kelly|year=2006|editor-last1=Dewey|editor-first1=Tanya|editor-last2=Fraser|editor-first2=Ann|access-date=26 May 2023|website=Animal Diversity Web}}</ref> (most accounts say two) {{convert|1.6|in|cm|abbr=on}} round white eggs.  Reportedly, multiple female parakeets could deposit their eggs into one nest, similar to nesting behavior described in the [[monk parakeet]] (''Myiopsitta monachus'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ecologycenter.us/natural-history-2/carolina-parakeet.html|website=Ecology Center|title=Carolina Parakeet|last=Gnam|first=Rosemarie|date=5 April 2023|access-date=26 May 2023}}</ref>

It mostly ate the seeds of forest trees and shrubs, including those of cypress, [[Celtis|hackberry]], beech, sycamore, elm, pine, maple, oak, and other plants such as [[thistle]]s and sandspurs (''[[Cenchrus]]'' species). It ate [[fruit]]s, including apples, grapes, and figs (often from orchards by the time of its decline), and flower buds, and occasionally, insects.<ref name=Griggs/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Conuropsis_carolinensis/ | title=Conuropsis carolinensis (Carolina parakeet) | website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> It was especially noted for its predilection for cockleburs (''[[Xanthium strumarium]]''),<ref name="Phillips"/> a plant which contains a toxic [[glucoside]],<ref name="Vet">{{cite web |title=Cocklebur (''Xanthium strumarium'' L.) |publisher=University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana: Veterinary Medicine Library |url=http://www.library.illinois.edu/vex/toxic/cklburs/cklburs.htm |access-date=8 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908005840/http://www.library.illinois.edu/vex/toxic/cklburs/cklburs.htm |archive-date=8 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and it was considered to be an agricultural pest of grain crops.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/carolina-parakeet-removal-of-a-menace/|title=Carolina Parakeet: Removal of a "Menace"|date=2008-04-15|newspaper=All About Birds|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-25}}</ref>

==Extinction==
[[File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.110076 - Conuropsis carolinensis ludoviciana (Gmelin, 1788) - Carolina Parakeet - specimen - video.webm|thumbtime=0:14|thumb|Turnaround video of a ''C. c. ludovicianus'' specimen, Naturalis]]
The last captive Carolina parakeet, [[Incas (Carolina parakeet)|Incas]], died at the Cincinnati Zoo on February 21, 1918, in the same cage as [[Martha (passenger pigeon)|Martha]], the last [[passenger pigeon]], which died in 1914.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://johnjames.audubon.org/last-carolina-parakeet|title=The last Carolina Parakeet|date=22 December 2015}}</ref> There are no scientific studies or surveys of this bird by American naturalists; most information about it is from anecdotal accounts and museum specimens, so details of its prevalence and decline are unverified or speculative.

Extensive accounts of the precolonial and early colonial have been given for prevalence of this bird. The existence of flocks of gregarious, very colorful and raucous parrots could hardly have gone unnoted by European explorers, as parrots were virtually unknown in seafaring European nations in the 16th and 17th centuries. Later accounts in the latter half of the 19th century onward noted the birds' sparseness and absence.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wright |first=Albert |date=July 1912 |title=Early Records of the Carolina Paroquet |doi=10.2307/4071042 |journal=The Auk |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=343–363|jstor=4071042 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/86269 }}</ref>

Genetic evidence suggests that while populations had been in decline since the [[Last Glacial Maximum|last glacial maximum]], the lack of evidence of inbreeding suggests that the birds declined very quickly.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=Katz|first1=Brigit|title=The Extinction of This U.S. Parrot Was Quick and Driven by Humans|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/extinction-us-parrot-was-quick-and-driven-humans-180973786/|access-date=2021-10-18|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref>

The birds' range collapsed from east to west with settlement and clearing of the eastern and southern deciduous forests. John J. Audubon commented as early as 1832 on the decline of the birds. The bird was rarely reported outside Florida after 1860. The last reported sighting east of the Mississippi River (except Florida) was in 1878 in Kentucky. By the turn of the century, it was restricted to the swamps of central Florida. The last known wild specimen was killed in [[Okeechobee County, Florida]], in 1904, and the last captive bird died at the Cincinnati Zoo on February 21, 1918. This was the male specimen, Incas, that died within a year of his mate, Lady Jane.<ref>{{cite book |last=Snyder |first=Noel |date=June 2004 |title=The Carolina Parakeet: Glimpses of a Vanished Bird |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref> Additional reports of the bird were made in Okeechobee County, Florida, until the late 1920s, but these are not supported by specimens. However two sets of eggs purportedly taken from active nests in 1927 are in the collection of the Florida Museum of Natural History, and genetic testing could prove the species was still breeding at that time.<ref>{{cite book |last=Snyder |first=Noel |date=June 2004 |title=The Carolina Parakeet: Glimpses of a Vanished Bird |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Webber|first1=Tom|title=Carolina Parakeet|url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/100-years/object/carolina-parakeet/|website=Florida Museum|language=en}}</ref> Not until 1939, however, did the [[American Ornithologists' Union|American Ornithologists' Society]] declare the Carolina parakeet to be extinct. The [[IUCN]] has listed the species as extinct since 1920.

In 1937, three parakeets resembling this species were sighted and filmed in the [[Okefenokee Swamp]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. However, the American Ornithologists' Union analyzed the film and concluded that they had probably filmed feral parakeets.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cokinos |first=Christopher |date=2009|title=Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds |publisher=Penguin |page=41}}</ref> A year later, in 1938, a flock of parakeets was apparently sighted by a group of experienced ornithologists in the swamps of the [[Santee River]] basin in [[South Carolina]], but this sighting was doubted by most other ornithologists. The birds were never seen again after this sighting, and shortly after a portion of the area was destroyed to make way for power lines, making the species' continued existence unlikely.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Lost Wild America: The Story of Our Extinct and Vanishing Wildlife|last=McClung|first=Robert M.|publisher=Linnet Books|year=1994|isbn=978-0208023599|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780208023599}}</ref>

About 720 skins and 16 skeletons are housed in museums around the world,<ref>{{cite book |last=Luther |first=Dieter |date=1996 |title=Die ausgestorbenen Vögel der Welt |language=de |trans-title=The extinct birds of the world |edition=4th |publisher=Westarp-Wissenschaften |location=Heidelberg |isbn=3-89432-213-6}}</ref> and analyzable DNA has been extracted from them.<ref name="Katz" />

===Reasons for extinction===
[[File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.110115 - Conuropsis carolinensis subspecies - Carolina Parakeet - specimen - video.webm|upright|thumbtime=0:12|thumb|Turnaround video of a mounted skeleton, Naturalis]]
The evidence is indicative that humans had at least a contributory role in the extinction of the Carolina parakeet, through a variety of means.<ref name="The last Carolina Parakeet">{{Cite web |url=http://johnjames.audubon.org/last-carolina-parakeet |title=The last Carolina Parakeet|date=22 December 2015}}</ref> Chief was [[deforestation]] in the 18th and 19th centuries. Hunting played a significant role, both for decorative use of their colorful feathers, for example, adornment of women's hats, and for reduction of crop predation.<ref name=IUCN/> This was partially offset by the recognition of their value in controlling invasive cockleburs. Minor roles were played by capture for the pet trade and, as noted in ''[[Pacific Standard]]'', by the introduction for crop pollination of [[European honeybee]]s that competed for nest sites.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://psmag.com/environment/remembering-the-carolina-parakeet|title=Happy Global Last Resort Day|last=Cokinos|first=Christopher|date=February 21, 2018|website=[[Pacific Standard]]|access-date=January 18, 2019}}</ref>

A factor that exacerbated their decline to extinction was the flocking behavior that led them to return to the vicinity of dead and dying birds (such as birds downed by hunting), enabling wholesale slaughter.<ref name="The last Carolina Parakeet"/>

The final extinction of the species in the early years of the 20th century is somewhat of a mystery, as it happened so rapidly. Vigorous flocks with many juveniles and reproducing pairs were noted as late as 1896, and the birds were long-lived in captivity, but they had virtually disappeared by 1904. Sufficient nest sites remained intact, so deforestation was not the final cause. American ornithologist Noel F. Snyder<ref name=Snyder/> speculates that the most likely cause seems to be that the birds succumbed to poultry disease, although no recent or historical records exist of New World parrot populations being afflicted by domestic poultry diseases. The modern poultry scourge [[Newcastle disease]] was not detected until 1926 in Indonesia, and only a subacute form of it was reported in the United States in 1938. Genetic research on samples did not show any significant presence of bird viruses (though this does not solely rule out disease).<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* [[Green parakeet]], the other living U.S. parrot, found in southern Texas
* [[Monk parakeet]], a prevalent feral parrot in the United States, often incorrectly presumed to be native
* [[Feral parrot]]s, other non-native parrots in the United States

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=usfwstbp2012>{{cite web|publisher=US Fish and Wildlife Service|title=Thick-Billed Parrot Draft Recovery Plan Addendum|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-06-19/html/2012-14853.htm |access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref>
<ref name=tamurcp>{{cite web |last=Burgess |first=Harold H. |date=2006|title=Red-crowned parrot, The Texas Breeding Bird Atlas |url=https://txtbba.tamu.edu/species-accounts/red-crowned-parrot/ |website=txtbba.tamu.edu |access-date=27 December 2020|quote=The Red-crowned parrot is a state-listed resident bird. They are both naturally occurring and escapees.}}</ref>
<ref name=shackelford2016>Shackelford, C., and C. Hanks. 2016. Red-crowned parrot conservation in Texas – Background and roost survey results for 2016: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin, Texas.</ref>
<ref name=tamugp>{{cite web |last=Burgess |first=Harold H. |date=2007|title=Green parakeet, The Texas Breeding Bird Atlas |url=https://txtbba.tamu.edu/species-accounts/green-parakeet/ |website=txtbba.tamu.edu |access-date=27 December 2020}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* Cokinos, Christopher (2009) ''Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds'' (Chapter 1: Carolina Parakeet), Tarcher {{ISBN|978-1585427222}}
* Snyder, Noel (2004) ''The Carolina Parakeet: Glimpses of a Vanished Bird'', Princeton University Press {{ISBN|978-0691117959}}
* Julian P. Hume, Michael Walters (2012) ''Extinct Birds'' (p.&nbsp;186), Poyser Monographs {{ISBN|978-1408157251}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{cite web |title=Songbird Foundation Birds: Extinct Species Carolina Paroquet |url=http://www.songbird.org/birds/extinct/carpark.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924004915/http://www.songbird.org/birds/extinct/carpark.htm |archive-date=24 September 2010}}
* [http://www.parrots.org/index.php/encyclopedia/profile/carolina_parakeet/ Species profile]  – World Parrot Trust
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110820144306/http://www.arkive.org/carolina-parakeet/conuropsis-carolinensis/image-G64076.html Fact file] – ARKive
* [http://www.carolinanature.com/birds/capapapi.html "Carolina Parakeet (''Conuropsis carolinensis'') and Passenger Pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'')"]  – Carolina Nature
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/conservation/extinctions/carolina_parakeet "Carolina Parakeet: Removal of a Menace"]  – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100327174106/http://www.ivorybill.com/g/carolinaparakeet.htm "The Extinct Carolina Parakeet"]  – Ivory Bill
* [http://cityparrots.org/journal/tag/conuropsis-carolinensis-carolina-parakee News]  – City Parrots

{{Psittacopasseres|Ps.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q629204}}

[[Category:Arini (tribe)|Carolina parakeet]]
[[Category:Extinct birds of North America]]
[[Category:Bird extinctions since 1500]]
[[Category:Parakeets]]
[[Category:Species made extinct by human activities]]
[[Category:Native birds of the Eastern United States]]
[[Category:Extinct animals of the United States]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758|Carolina parakeet]]
[[Category:1939 in the environment]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|Carolina parakeet]]
[[Category:Species that are or were threatened by deforestation]]