The genus Prioniturus, commonly known as racket-tails, contains ten species in the parrot family Psittaculidae that are found in the Philippines and Indonesia. They are easily distinguished from all other parrots by their elongated central tail feathers with the bare shaft and spatula at the end.
Taxonomy The genus Prioniturus was introduced in 1832 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler to accommodate a single species, Psittacus platurus Vieillot, the golden-mantled racket-tail. This is the type species of the genus. The word Prioniturus combines the genus name Prionites introduced for the motmots by the German zoologist Johann Illiger in 1811, with the Ancient Greek - (-ourá), meaning "tail".
The genus contains the following ten species: Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Buru racket-tail Prioniturus mada Buru (central west Moluccas) Golden-mantled racket-tail Prioniturus platurus Sulawesi, satellites and Celebes Sea islands. Mindanao racket-tail Prioniturus waterstradti Montane Mindanao (south Philippines) Montane racket-tail Prioniturus montanus Montane north Luzon (north Philippines) Blue-headed racket-tail Prioniturus platenae Palawan group (southwest Philippines) Mindoro racket-tail Prioniturus mindorensis Mindoro (central north Philippines) Blue-winged racket-tail Prioniturus verticalis Sulu Archipelago (south Philippines) Yellow-breasted racket-tail Prioniturus flavicans North Sulawesi, Bangka Island and Lembeh (north, east of northeast Sulawesi) and Togian Islands (between northeast and central east Sulawesi) 120px Green racket-tail Prioniturus luconensis Luzon (north Philippines) 120px Blue-crowned racket-tail Prioniturus discurus Philippines (except north Luzon, Mindoro and Palawan group)
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