New Guinea is governed by the nations of
Papua New Guinea and
Indonesia, which were identified among the top-10 highest priority countries for parrot conservation in the world, due to their parrot diversity, endemism, and threats.[1]
The island of
New Guinea is home to 46 native species of
parrots, which makes it the third most diverse biogeographic region in parrot diversity,[2] after the
continent of
South America which harbours about 100
species[3] and
Australia which has 57 species.[2] But considering that the area of
New Guinea is at least 8 times smaller than these two zones, it makes New Guinea's parrot diversity truly spectacular. New Guinea shares three species of
cockatoos and five other species of
parrots with neighbouring
Australia and other islands. 38 species of parrots are
endemic to the island of New Guinea and minor offshore islands.
Although only 7% of the parrot species are threatened in New Guinea,[2] many are very poorly known,[4][5] and further information may lead to revisions of their
Red List status. Most of the
threatened species inhabit the satellite islands of New Guinea, with the exception of
Pesquet’s parrot(Psittrichas fulgidus), which lives on the mainland.[2]