Extinct
This parakeet became extinct at some point between 1883 and 1906. The last one collected was in 1881 and the last one in captivity died in 1883. When someone went and looked for them again in 1906 they were gone. I know, that is a bit iffy for it falling in my "after 1900" requirement, but I'm giving myself wiggle room for this week of parrots. They were a very wary bird when the ornithologist Newton observed them. It is very possibly a result of having been shot and trapped by farmers for some time. There is almost nothing known about them. It is assumed that as with others like them they most likely ate insects, seeds, and fruit. Also that they probably lived in small family groups. There is no certainty about any of those assumptions though.
I really don't like to put any objects in the paintings with the animals because I want them to truly be the only subject. I had decided to paint this parakeet from behind though to show their tail when it was fanned out (I did not see a single painting depicting them from behind or with their tail like this) because it seems to have been quite beautiful. If there was not anything for it to be sitting on though, it looked entirely too much like all the dead and not posed taxidermy birds I've been looking at this week when painting. It made it way too sad for me, and I just couldn't handle leaving it that way. So, a minimalist branch had to happen and I'm ok with that.
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