Parrots in Papua New Guinea

New Guinea is an island located just south of the equator. New Guinea is home to 46 species of parrots (s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrots_of_New_Guinea), which makes it the third most diverse biogeographic region in parrot diversity, after the continent of South America which harbours about 100 species and Australia which has 57 species.
New Guinea on the other side is only a fraction as big in land mass as these two zones. Thus making New Guinea’s parrot diversity truly spectacular.
New Guinea is the land of Eclectus Parrots, Pesquest’s Parrot, Lories, Cockatoos, Fig-parrots, but also of Fruit-Doves, Honeyeaters, Cassowaries and of course Birds-of-Paradise. Because of its astounding variety of habitats due to topography and the influence of tropical climate, New Guinea supports over 700 species of birds.
New Guinea shares three species of cockatoos and five species of true parrots with Australia and other islands. 38 species of parrots are endemic to the island of New Guinea and minor offshore islands.
A good example of PNG´s richness in birds is the Eclectus Parrot, Eclectus roratus. This species is a parrot native to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Sumba and nearby islands, northeastern Australia and the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimorphism of the colours of the plumage; the male having a mostly bright emerald green plumage and the female a mostly bright red and purple/blue plumage. The first ornithological scientist thought, that the male & female of Eclectus Parrots were of two distinct species. Their bright feathers are sometimes used by native people in New Guinea as decorations.
A first impression of PNG´s richness in parrots you will find in the gallery here. An update of the image stock in the “Pictures Shop” is coming very soon. If you are interested in Parrots in general, you might want to look at a Website with more parrots of South America. Just give me a message, if I could serve you with a request before the pictures are online.
Other successful shootings you can see under: http://www.bird-lens.com/photos-2/

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