Green racquet-tail (Prioniturus luconensis)

Description

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Green racquet-tail fact file

• Description
• Biology
• Range
• Habitat
• Status
• Threats
• Conservation
• Find out more
• Glossary
• References
• Print factsheet

Green racquet-tail description

A member of the colourful and charismatic parrot family, the green racquet-tail is not as strikingly bright as many other parrot species, but is an attractive bird nevertheless. It has mostly yellowish-green plumage, which is brightest on the head and breast and slightly darker on the wings and tail ^{(2) (4)}. Two of the feathers in the tail are elongated and end in broad, flattened, blackish tips. These ‘racquet-shaped’ feathers, after which this bird was named, protrude far from the rest of the tail feathers that are tipped with dark blue ⁽²⁾. The strongly hooked bill is pale greyish ^{(2) (5)}, and may sometimes be used, along with its strongly gripping feet, when climbing trees ⁽⁵⁾. Female green racquet-tails are more uniformly green than males, while juveniles can easily be distinguished by the lack of any elongated racquet-shaped feathers ⁽²⁾. The green racquet-tail calls with a rather harsh squawk, intermixed with screeches and more tuneful notes ⁽⁴⁾.

Spanish

Lorito-momoto de Luzón.

Size

Length: 29 cm ⁽²⁾

Green racquet-tail biology

Very little is known about the biology of this forest-dwelling parrot. Parrots typically have narrow and pointed wings, which enables them to fly with speed and agility through the forest as they search for food ⁽⁵⁾. This species is known to feed on fruit, particularly bananas, as well as rice and the flowers and seeds of growing corn ⁽²⁾.

The little information available regarding breeding in the green racquet-tail suggests that the main breeding season may fall in April and May; a female collected in April contained an egg almost ready for laying, and a young individual has been seen in May ⁽⁶⁾.

Green racquet-tail range

Once known to be widespread and abundant on the islands of Luzon and Marinduque in the northern Philippines ^{(2) (4)}, the range and numbers of the green racquet-tail have since declined significantly ⁽⁴⁾. Today, this rare parrot appears to be restricted to the Sierra Madre Mountains on Luzon, and it may be extinct on the island of Marinduque ⁽⁴⁾.

Green racquet-tail habitat

The green racquet-tail mainly inhabits primary forest ⁽²⁾, where it has been recorded from 300 metres above sea level up to over 1,000 metres ⁽⁴⁾. Occasionally it may be seen out in open cultivated areas, where it searches for food ⁽²⁾, and has also been recorded from selectively logged and degraded forest ⁽²⁾.

Green racquet-tail status

Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List ⁽¹⁾ and listed on Appendix II of CITES ⁽³⁾.

Green racquet-tail threats

The green racquet-tail is another victim of the ubiquitous threat of habitat loss, compounded by the impacts of trapping for the cagebird trade ^{(2) (7)}. Numerous forest-dwelling species are threatened in the Philippines as habitat has been devastated by extensive commercial logging ⁽⁸⁾. Forest cover in the Sierra Madre mountains, the stronghold of this species, has declined by 83 percent since the 1930s ⁽⁴⁾. Most of the remaining patches of forest are under logging concession, or may be impacted by plans to build major roads ⁽⁴⁾. Even within protected areas the green racquet-tail is not safe from the detrimental impacts of human activities; a new road development near Subic Bay Naval Forest Reserve in Luzon has resulted in an increase in illegal logging in the region ⁽⁴⁾.

Green racquet-tail conservation

The largest remaining population of green racquet-tails is found within Subic Bay Naval Forest Reserve ⁽²⁾, although, as mentioned above, this does not entirely protect the parrot’s forest habitat ⁽⁶⁾. It also occurs in Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park and, in the past, Quezon National Park, although a lack of recent records suggest that it may now be extinct in this area ⁽⁴⁾. To mitigate the threats of capture for the bird trade, the export of any wild animals and plants from the Philippines is prohibited ⁽⁷⁾, and this species is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning that any international trade in the green racquet-tail should be carefully monitored ⁽³⁾. Despite these measures, this bird remains vulnerable to extinction and further measures, such as the protection of other key populations and improved efforts to prevent illegal logging, have been recommended ⁽⁴⁾.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Find out more

For further information on conservation in the Philippines see:

• Haribon Foundation:
  www.haribon.org.ph
• Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation:
  www.ptfcf.org

For more information on this and other bird species please see:

• BirdLife International:
  http://www.birdlife.org

Authentication

Glossary

Primary forest

Forest that has remained undisturbed for a long time and has reached a mature condition.

References

1. IUCN Red List (June, 2008)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
2. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (1997) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse To Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
3. CITES (June, 2007)
   http://www.cites.org
4. Birdlife International (August, 2008)
   http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=1436&m=0
5. Burnie, D. (2001) Animal. Dorling Kindersley, London.
6. BirdLife International. (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
7. Snyder, N., McGowan, P., Gilardi, J. and Grajal, A. (2000) Parrots: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2000-2004. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
8. Mittermeier, R.A., Robles-Gil, P., Hoffmann, M., Pilgrim, J.D., Brooks, T.M., Mittermeier, C.G., Lamoreux, J.L. and Fonseca, G. (2004) Hotspots Revisited: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Ecoregions. Cemex, Mexico City.