The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Carolina parakeet
small, long-tailed bird, Canuropsis carolinensis, now believed extinct. The Carolina parakeet was the northernmost representative of the parrot family. It had green plumage with a yellow head and orange cheek patches and forehead. The largest specimens were 13 in. (33 cm) in length, including the tail feathers. It was formerly distributed throughout the SE United States, as far north as Virginia and as far west as Texas; the last specimens were seen in S Florida early in the 20th cent. A fruit eater, the Carolina parakeet was an agricultural pest and was therefore exterminated by farmers. It is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Psittaciformes, family Psittacidae. See parakeet.
