Bonaparte's parakeet (''Pyrrhura lucianii''), also known as Deville's parakeet, or in

aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Types There are various reasons that people get involved in aviculture. Some people breed birds to preserve a species. Some people breed parrots a ...

as Deville's conure, is a species of

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 ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Psittacidae The family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the roughly 10 species of subfamily Psittacinae (the Old World or Afrotropical parrots) and 157 of subfamily Arinae (the New World or Neotropic ...

. It is restricted to the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian state of Amazonas south of the

Solimões river Solimões () is the name often given to upper stretches of the Amazon River in Brazil from its confluence with the Rio Negro upstream to the border of Peru. Geography The Amazon / Solimões river just above the confluence of the Solimões and ...

Description

Total length c. . As other members of the ''

Pyrrhura picta The painted parakeet (''Pyrrhura picta''), more commonly known as the painted conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in the family Psittacidae, the true parrots. Its taxonomy is highly complex, and has undergone significant changes in recent ...

'' complex, it is a long-tailed mainly green parakeet with a dark red belly, rump and tail-tip (tail all dark red from below), pale grey scaling to the chest, a whitish or dull

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

patch on the auriculars and bluish

remiges Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...

. The cheeks and crown are dark dusky-

maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

(often appears almost blackish). Unlike other members of the ''P. picta'' complex, it lacks any bright red or blue to the head (''but see

Taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

''). The legs are dark greyish.

Habitat and behavior

It occurs in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

humid lowland forest and adjacent habitats. It is social and typically seen in pairs or groups. It feeds on fruits, seeds and flowers. The nest is placed in a tree cavity. It is likely to be fairly common within its range, but generally very poorly known, as the remote region where it occurs rarely is visited by

ornithologists __NOTOC__ This is a list of ornithologists who have articles, in alphabetical order by surname. See also :Ornithologists. A * John Abbot – US * Clinton Gilbert Abbott – US * William Louis Abbott – US * Joseph H. Acklen – US *Humayun Ab ...

Taxonomy

It has typically been considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''Pyrrhura picta''. As with most other

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

in the ''P. picta'' complex, Joseph (2002) recommended that ''lucianii'' should be recognized as a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

species, ''P. lucianii''. Ribas ''et al.'' (2006) did not include ''lucianii'' in their study, but did find that ''P. picta'' (''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'') was closer to some members of the '' P. leucotis'' complex than to the various taxa found mainly south of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

and traditionally considered as subspecies of it. Consequently, Ribas ''et al.'' recommended that the west Amazonian taxa (''roseifrons'' and ''peruviana'') and the east Amazonian taxa (''amazonum'' and ''snethlageae'') should be considered two separate species. Based on

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

, it therefore becomes unlike that ''P. lucianii'' is a subspecies of ''P. picta'', but the possibility that it is better regarded as

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

with either '' P. amazonum'' or '' P. roseifrons'' cannot be discounted on basis of current knowledge. ''P. lucianii'' was described before both ''P. amazonum'' and ''P. roseifrons'', meaning that they, if one of these scenarios was found to be correct, would become subspecies of ''P. lucianii'' (i.e. ''P. lucianii amazonum'' or ''P. lucianii roseifrons''). SACC voted to recognize ''P. lucianii'' as a species. Another problem relates to the population of the ''P. picta'' complex from far north-eastern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. These individuals with red to the forecrown have often (e.g. Juniper and Parr, 1998) been regarded as typical of ''P. lucianii''. Joseph (2002) found that this was incorrect, with true ''P. lucianii'' being restricted to Brazil and lacking any bright red to the head. The

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

position of the population in far north-eastern Peru, labelled as "group 6" by Joseph (2002), therefore remains unclear, it having been speculated that it could be a distinct species, a subspecies of either ''P. roseifrons'' or ''P. lucianii'', a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between the ''P. roseifrons'' and ''P. lucianii'' (which, if found to be true, could indicate that ''P. lucianii'' and ''P. roseifrons'' are better considered conspecific), or a hybrid between the currently recognized subspecies of ''P. roseifrons''. Arndt (2008) recently argued for treating it as a distinct species, which he described as '' P. parvifrons'', but this has yet to receive widespread recognition (e.g. by SACC).

References

* Arndt, T. (2008). ''Anmerkungen zu einigen Pyrrhura-Formen mit der Beschreibung einer neuen Art und zweier neuer Unterarten.'' Papageien 8/2008. * Joseph, L. (2002). ''Geographic variation, taxonomy and distribution of some Amazonian Pyrrhura parakeets.'' Ornitologia Neotropical 13(4): 337–363. * Juniper, T., and M. Parr (1998). ''A Guide to the Parrots of the World''. Pica Press, East Sussex. * Remsen, J. V. Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 6 September 2007
''A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union.''
* Ribas, C. C., L. Joseph, C. Y. Miyaki (2006). ''Molecular systematics and patterns of diversification in ''Pyrrhura'' (Psittacidae), with special reference to the ''picta-leucotis'' complex.'' Auk 123(3): 660–680.

External links

World Parrot Trust
Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles
Photo of Bonaparte's parakeet.
wikiaves.com.br {{Taxonbar, from=Q1266914

Bonaparte's parakeet Bonaparte's parakeet (''Pyrrhura lucianii''), also known as Deville's parakeet, or in aviculture as Deville's conure, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is restricted to the Brazilian state of Amazonas south of the Solimões ri ...

Birds of the Brazilian Amazon Endemic birds of Brazil