Moluccan King-Parrot 35 cm; 145–163 g. Head to nape and entire underparts red; upper mandible red, lower greyish; wings oil green; underwing-coverts, shoulder, lesser wing-coverts, mantle, back, rump and upper tail-coverts deep blue; tail blackish-blue above, greyish below with under tail-coverts black-edged red and three outer tail feathers dull pink on inner webs.
Legs grey. Immature has a green mantle, bill brownish-black. Race sulaensis has a variable green band across the mantle, no pink edging on the tail;
Versicolor like amboinensis but smaller; buruensis like sulaensis but pink retained, no red in the bill; hypophonius has wings deep blue, no pink on the tail; dorsalis like amboinensis but no pink on the tail.
Alisterus amboinensis Scientific name definitions
- LC Least Concern
- Names (15)
- Subspecies (6)
Systematics History
Editor’s Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.
Forms a species pair with A. chloropterus. Race hypophonius differs from all others in this species in its blackish-blue vs green wings and scapulars (at least 3), but in no other known way; study needed. Six subspecies were recognized.
Subspecies
SUBSPECIES
Alisterus amboinensis hypophonius Scientific name definitions
Distribution
Halmahera, in N Moluccas.
SUBSPECIES
Alisterus amboinensis sulaensis Scientific name definitions
Distribution
Sula Is (Taliabu, Seho, and Mangole).
SUBSPECIES
Alisterus amboinensis versicolor Scientific name definitions
Distribution
Banggai Is (Peleng).
SUBSPECIES
Alisterus amboinensis buruensis Scientific name definitions
Distribution
Buru, in S Moluccas.
SUBSPECIES
Alisterus amboinensis amboinensis Scientific name definitions
Distribution
Boano, Ambon and Seram, in S Moluccas.
SUBSPECIES
Alisterus amboinensis dorsalis Scientific name definitions
Distribution
W Papuan Is and NW New Guinea.
Distribution
Editor’s Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the ‘Subspecies’ article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.
Habitat
Canopy and lower stages of dense primary and secondary forest from lowlands at 200–350 m to around 1400 m, with one record at 1510 m on Seram; on Buru, found mainly at 1100–1500 m, but this is where the only primary forest remains, so may not be a genuine habitat preference.
Occasionally at the edge of gardens and plantations; found in a forest on poor soils on Halmahera, where apparently intolerant of habitat disturbance. Quiet behavior in mid-canopy recalls Neotropical trogons (Trogon).
Diet and Foraging
Buds, seeds, grain, fruits, berries; recorded taking Lithocarpus acorns.
Sounds and Vocal Behavior
Most vocalizations involve repetitions of a single note, including a salvo-like “chak-chak-chak…”, a more spaced “krek!…krek!…” or a whistled “whee…whee…whee..”.
SOURCE: obirds
Breeding
Feb–Mar. Nest in a hole in a large tree. Eggs apparently two; in captivity, size 33·8–37·2 mm × 27·4–28·1 mm (nominate) or 31–34·2 mm × 21·1–26·1 mm (sulaensis), incubation 19 days, nestling period c. 9 weeks.
Conservation Status
Conservation status on BirdlifeLC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. CITES II. Overall a common species, but despite coloration unobtrusive and difficult to detect. Rare and threatened on Halmahera; confined to primary forest areas on Taliabu (Sula Is), where perhaps 5000 birds survive.
Surveys on Seram and Buru in 1991 suggested densities of 8 birds/km² in primary forest and 52 birds/km² in the logged forest; the population of race amboinensis alone may then have been 70,000 birds.
Trade pressure is not great owing to exceptionally high post-capture mortality rates, but quotas set for different subspecies do not appear to reflect their known status, rather the desires of the trading community, so baseline survey and monitoring are needed throughout the range.
