''Brotogeris'' is a genus of small

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...

s endemic to Central and South America. Their closest relatives are the

monk parakeet The monk parakeet (''Myiopsitta monachus''), also known as the Quaker parrot, is a species of true parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is a small, bright-green parrot with a greyish breast and greenish-yellow abdomen. Its average lifespan is 20 ...

and the and the cliff parakeet in the genus '' Myiopsitta''. They eat seeds and fruit. The word ''brotogeris'' means "having the voice of a human". In the language of their native countries, which is mostly Spanish, they are called ''pericos'' – the translation of which is "parakeet". Their average lifespan is 15 years, although some have been reported to have lived up to 35 years. Also, the bird was found in Rio Grande do Sul in South America.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Brotogeris'' was introduced in 1825 by Irish zoologist

Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow on 17 ...

with the

grey-cheeked parakeet The grey-cheeked parakeet (''Brotogeris pyrrhoptera''), less commonly known as fire-winged parakeet, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. Taxonomy The grey-cheeked parakeet was described and named by John Latham in 1801. Descript ...

as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. The name is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''brotogērus'' meaning "with human voice". The genus contains eight species: *

Tui parakeet The tui parakeet (''Brotogeris sanctithomae'') is a species of bird in the family Psittacidae, the true parrots. It is found in the Amazon Basin of Brazil, and Amazonian Peru and Bolivia; also a minor range into eastern Ecuador, and the river bor ...

, ''Brotogeris sanctithomae'' * Plain parakeet, ''Brotogeris tirica'' *

White-winged parakeet The white-winged parakeet (''Brotogeris versicolurus''), or canary-winged parakeet is a small parrot native to the Amazon River basin from southeast Colombia to the river's mouth in Brazil. Caged birds have been released and the birds have esta ...

, ''Brotogeris versicolorus'' *

Yellow-chevroned parakeet The yellow-chevroned parakeet (''Brotogeris chiriri'') is native to tropical South America south of the Amazon River basin from central Brazil to southern Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. Caged birds have been released in some areas, a ...

, ''Brotogeris chiriri'' (also called canary-winged parakeet) *

Grey-cheeked parakeet The grey-cheeked parakeet (''Brotogeris pyrrhoptera''), less commonly known as fire-winged parakeet, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. Taxonomy The grey-cheeked parakeet was described and named by John Latham in 1801. Descript ...

, ''Brotogeris pyrrhoptera'' *

Orange-chinned parakeet The orange-chinned parakeet (''Brotogeris jugularis''), also known as the Tovi parakeet, is a small mainly green parrot of the genus ''Brotogeris''. It is found from Mexico, through Central America, to Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropi ...

, ''Brotogeris jugularis'' (also called Tovi parakeet) *

Cobalt-winged parakeet The cobalt-winged parakeet (''Brotogeris cyanoptera'') is a species of bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled e ...

, ''Brotogeris cyanoptera'' * Golden-winged parakeet, ''Brotogeris chrysoptera''

Phylogeny

The species form a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

group whose closest relatives are the

and the cliff parakeet in the genus '' Myiopsitta''. Within ''Brotogeris'' the species are divided into two separate

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

Gallery

File:Plain Parakeet (Brotogeris tirica) -on branch.jpg, Plain parakeet
(''B. tirica'') File:Grey-cheeked Parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhoptera) captivity.jpg,

(''B. pyrrhoptera'') File:Brotogeris chiriri -pet-8a.jpg,

(''B. chiriri'') File:Orange-chinned Parakeet (Brotogeris jugularis)10c1.jpg,

(''B. jugularis'') File:Brotogeris cyanoptera -Ecudore-4.jpg,

(''B. cyanoptera'') File:Brotogeris sanctithomae -captive-8a.jpg,

(''B. sanctithomae'')

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

Gallery

References

Further reading