Norfolk Island Kaka
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| Norfolk Island Kaka | ||||||||||||||
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| Nestor productus Gould,, 1836 |
The Norfolk Island Kaka (Nestor productus) was a large parrot with a prominent beak. Its plumage was olive-brown, with an orange throat and straw-coloured breast. It inhabited the rocks and treetops of Norfolk Island and the adjacent Phillip Island. It was a relative of the Kaka from New Zealand.
It was first described by the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg following the discovery of Norfolk Island by James Cook on 10 October 1774. It was hunted for food and trapped as a pet from the arrival of the first settlers in 1788 onwards, and became extinct in the wild in the early nineteenth century. The last one in captivity died in London in 1851.
The bird was officially classified by John Gould in 1836, from a specimen at the Zoological Society of London. During his visit to Australia Gould established that the bird had also inhabited Phillip Island. At least seven specimens survive.