Norfolk Parakeet (Cyanoramphus cookii)

The Norfolk Parakeet (Cyanoramphus cookii), is also known as the Tasman Parakeet, the Norfolk Island Green parrot, or the Norfolk Island Red-crowned Parakeet. It is endemic to Norfolk Island in the Pacific ocean, situated just under 900 miles from Australia from where Norfolk is governed.

The Norfolk Parakeet has seen much history on its tiny island home of just 14 square miles. If parrots had tribal memories, they would tell of the old days when Polynesians lived on their island.

Driving on Norfolk Island can sometimes be difficult as cows have the right of way

Later stories would no doubt tell of the day when Captain James Cook discovered their island in 1774, on his second voyage around the world. Duncombe Bay, where Cook landed HMS Resolution, is part of Norfolk’s National Park. The bird’s Latin name honours Cook, who reported the species in his journal. The Norfolk Parakeet is the symbol of the National Park, where it is recovering from near extinction. A combination of the introduced Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans), known simply on Norfolk Island as the Red parrot, as well as imported cats and rats that killed the young birds, and which meant that, by the late 1970s, the Norfolk Parakeet, once a common species, had dwindled to less than 50 birds. Thankfully, recent estimates put the population at around 350 birds.(1) This followed a concerted effort, between 1987 and 2000, to reduce the rat and cat populations by trapping.

Norfolk Island today is a beautiful and popular tourist destination

When James Cook was on the island he couldn’t help but notice the abundance of Pine trees, and suggested that they would be ideal for ship’s masts. Unfortunately they were not resilient enough for that purpose. The Norfolk Pine (Araucaria heterophylla) is, however, a very popular ornamental tree around the world. The seeds of the Pine make up a large part of the Norfolk Parakeet’s diet, especially in winter.