Extensive and sustained searches in the years since then have failed to produce any reliable evidence of it, and it is the only Australian parrot recorded as disappearing and presumed extinct.

A letter from Gilbert (May, 1844) describing this parrot was forwarded to Edward Smith-Stanley (Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby), apparently to entice the enthusiast into purchase of specimens in Gould's possession.

[4] A study using genome analysis of museum specimens concluded the closest living species is Psephotellus chrysopterygius, the alwal or golden-shouldered parrot of north eastern Australia.

[5] The species was observed in pairs or small family groups, making their nests in hollowed-out termite mounds,[6] often at or near ground level,[7] and feeding, so far as is known, almost exclusively on grass seeds.

[6] The nest sites were occasionally reported at termitariums previously occupied by the kingfisher Todiramphus macleayii or in burrows of a kookaburra Dacelo leachii (North, 1889), or at the base of a tree (Campbell, 1901).

Possibilities include overgrazing, land clearing, changed fire regimes, hunting by bird collectors, and predation by introduced mammals like cats and dogs.

A severe drought in the region during 1902 may have been a factor in its demise, and where the new pastoralist practices were introduced the burning by graziers to encourage fodder for their stock resulted in the loss of seasonal foods.

[6] Unconfirmed reports from the north of the recorded range may be complicated by misidentified observations of the rare golden-shouldered parrot (Psephotellus chrysopterygius).