NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Moluccan King Parrot
Alisterus amboinensis (Linnaeus, 1766)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
A Moluccan King Parrot at Brevard Zoo, Florida, USA.
Alisterus_amboinensis_-Brevard_Zoo-8b.jpg: Scott Hamlin derivative work: Snowmanradio (talk) · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Moluccan king parrot (Alisterus amboinensis) is a parrot endemic to Peleng Island, Maluku, and West Papua in Indonesia. It is sometimes referred to as the Ambon king parrot or Amboina king parrot, but this is potentially misleading, as it is found on numerous other islands than Ambon. The male and female are similar in appearance, with a predominantly red head and underparts, green wings (blue in one subspecies), and blue back and tail. Six subspecies are recognised, but only a few of these are regular in aviculture. In the wild, it inhabits rainforests and feeds on fruits, berries, seeds and buds.
Wikipedia contributors, Moluccan king parrot; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:50:07.707573+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Alisterus amboinensis (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Common name
- Moluccan King Parrot
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Alisterus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPsittaciformes
- familyPsittaculidae
- genusAlisterus Mathews, 1911
- speciesAlisterus amboinensis (Linnaeus, 1766)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Alisterus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Papuan King ParrotAlisterus chloropterus (E. P. Ramsay, 1879) | PsittaculidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Psittacus amboinensis Linnaeus, 1766 Linnaeus, 1766 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=177549 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:65VDQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.