Just re-read my post and thought a bit
......it might not be clear to all that the Chocolate Parson is the nominate race, ie
P.c.cincta....it IS the dark form, so maybe back before this particularly dark consignment hit the shops about 1970, the stock held by aviculturists may have been Matthews'
P.c. vinotinctus.....ie originating from northern qld wild stock, or mostly Diggles......Bare in mind that Diggles is somewhat lighter than Parson, except for the distinctly darker form of Diggles.....according to all the old authors anyway........It seems logical to me that the early bird trappers (1890's-1960's) would've had easier access to wild stock around Inverell/northern NSW & Sthn Qld....."Chocolate Parson Country"
...maybe someone was around back then & can share........however, I think that for most of us it is academic, and has been for the last 40 years or so...........we buy what we can get hold of, have no idea of the gerographic origins, 30 or so generations since caught, so they are at best intergrades........or more recently and extremely annoyingly, hybrids between dark form black rumps to richen the colour or longtails to intro pied/fawn/white into the captiive black throat population to produce "interesting" colour mutations
One crook way of richening the colour is denying them alot of light & space for a year and they go a bit melanistic....I had a couple necessarily inside in a cabinet for longer than I wanted and this happened
....... it moults out ;)
Only way to know now will be to compare dna with early museum specimens......having had a little to do with this in mammals and plants, I think the result will be that many of our captive birds would be suitable matches to original, but many wont............and it may not be obvious to the eye
.......most people arent motivated or have the resources to carefully manage their bird keeping to a standard required for conservation breeding/re-introduction purposes, but some do...............I dont, I get about 30 minutes a day to quickly top things up and tip-toe around trying not to tread on babies hiding amongst the green panic
However, I'm keen though to hook up with anyone interested in southern (white rump, +/- choc) Parsons......
Dano, I tried to contact the person you mentioned in Sydney
, but as yet, no luck.....could you put in a good word
Peace