Newton's parakeet was first written about by the French Huguenot François Leguat in 1708 and was only mentioned a few times by other writers afterwards. The specific name ""exsul"" is a reference to Leguat, who was exiled from France. Only two life drawings exist, both of a single specimen held in captivity in the 1770s. The species was scientifically described in 1872, with a female specimen as the holotype. A male, the last specimen recorded, was collected in 1875, and these two specimens are the only ones that exist today. The bird became scarce due to deforestation and perhaps hunting, but it was thought to have been finally wiped out by a series of cyclones and storms that hit Rodrigues in the late 19th century. Speculation about the possible survival of the species, though unfounded, lasted as late as 1967.