This parakeet is one of New Zealand's rarest birds and is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as a result of a range of threats to the species survival, including habitat loss, predation, and hybridization.

A number of conservation methods have been employed to assist the recovery of this species, and currently the population trend is considered stable.

These tests have resulted in C. forbesi being reinstated as a separate species to C. auriceps, on the basis of genetic variations, as well as morphological differences such as size and vocalisations.

The lores are also green, and the bird has some red plumage on the sides of the rump, and violet-blue outer primaries and wing coverts.

[5] The parakeet is found in dense forest and scrub, and utilizes tree hollows and rock crevices to nest.

Deforestation and the creation of open farmland meant Forbes' parakeet was being deprived of the forest habitat it prefers.

[8] Eliminating these birds also reduced the amount of competition for resources like food and habitat, and gave Forbes' parakeet numbers a chance to increase.

[15] The diet of Forbes' parakeets consists of invertebrates, flowers, seeds, leaves, fruit, shoots and bark.

[5] Forbes' parakeet nest in hollows of dead or living trees, and breed between October and March.