In 1876, the Newton brothers noted that they had expected the male would be adorned with a red patch on the wing, but that the absence of this indicated it was immature. They still found it more beautiful than the female. These two specimens are the only preserved individuals of the species. The mandible and sternum were extracted from the female specimen, and subfossil remains have since been found in the Plaine Corail caverns on Rodrigues. The genus "Palaeornis" was later declared a junior synonym of "Psittacula", and all species within the former were transferred to the latter.