Hybrid Lunchbox Talk: The Carolina Parakeet (Paroquet) and relatives: a look at some natural, un-natural, and cultural histories

With John Gerwin, Ornithology Research Curator, NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Did you know the eastern U.S. was home to a native species of parakeet that went extinct in the early 20th century?

Early naturalists of the 18th and 19th centuries left us with volumes of great plant and animal natural history information based on early explorations of “the New World." Ironically, they left precious little information about the breeding biology of the Carolina Parakeet. Researchers continue to probe historic documents, and collections, and occasionally make new discoveries. We discovered a set of three eggs in our unarchived holdings at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in 2018, for example. In this program, John will discuss what we know, and don’t know, about this extinct parakeet and relate this to some of the species’ tropical relatives.

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