The burrowing parrot (''Cyanoliseus patagonus''), also known as the burrowing parakeet or the Patagonian 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 ...
native to
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. It belongs to the
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 ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Cyanoliseus'', with four
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 ...
that are currently recognized.
The burrowing parrot is unmistakable with a distinctive white eye ring, white breast marking, olive green body colour, and brightly coloured underparts. Named for their nesting habits, burrowing parrots excavate elaborate burrows in cliff faces and ravines in order to rear their chicks. They inhabit dry, open country up to 2000 m in elevation.
Once abundant across Argentina and Chile, burrowing parrot populations have been in decline due to exploitation and persecution.
Taxonomy, phylogeny and systematics
![Cyanoliseus patagonus -Psittacara patagonica Patagonian Parrakeet-Maccaw -by Edward Lear 1812-1888](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Cyanoliseus_patagonus_-Psittacara_patagonica_Patagonian_Parrakeet-Maccaw_-by_Edward_Lear_1812-1888.jpg)
The burrowing parrot was first described in 1818 by
Louis Pierre Vieillot
Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist.
Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collecte ...
as ''Psittacus patagonus''. The genus was later renamed ''Cyanoliseus'' by
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte.
Life and career
...
in 1854.
The burrowing parrot is the only member of the genus ''Cyanoliseus'', making it monotypic. Together with other genera of long-tailed New World parrots, ''Cyanoliseus'' is a part of the Tribe
Arini, which in turn is a part of the subfamily
Arinae
The neotropical parrots or New World parrots comprise about 150 species in 32 genera found throughout South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean islands and (formerly) the southern United States. Among them are some of the most familiar an ...
, or Neotropical parrots, in the family of true parrots,
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 ...
. The closest relative of the burrowing parrot is thought to be the
Nanday parakeet
The nanday parakeet (''Aratinga nenday''), also known as the black-hooded parakeet or nanday conure, is a medium-small, mostly green, Neotropical parrot native to continental South America.
Taxonomy
The nanday parakeet was previously regarded as ...
.
There are four recognized subspecies, however the subspecies ''C. p. conlara'' is considered doubtfully distinct:
* ''C. p. patagonus'' (Vieillot) is the nominate subspecies found in central to southeast Argentina, with some migrants reaching southern
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
* ''C. p. andinus'' (Dabbene and Lillo) is found in northwest Argentina, from
Salta
Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
to
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
.
Plumage is duller than the nominate ''C. p. patagonus'', with much fainter markings.
This population is estimated to be approximately 2000 individuals.
* ''C. p. conlara'' (Nores and Yzurieta) can be found in
San Luis, between the ranges of ''C. p. patagonus'' and ''C. p. andinus'', and is visually similar to ''C. p. patagonus'' except for a darker breast, suggesting that ''C. p. conlara'' may be 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 ...
instead of a distinct subspecies
* ''C. p. bloxami'' (Olson), formerly ''C. p. byroni'', also known as the Greater Patagonian Conure,
is the Chilean sub-population. Formerly occurring from
Atacama
The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the w ...
to
Valdiva, now this subspecies is restricted to isolated populations in central Chile in
O'Higgins,
Maule and Atacama.
Unlike the nominate subspecies, the white breast markings of this subspecies are prominent and extend across the whole breast, and the yellow underparts and red abdomen are much brighter.
It is larger in size than ''C. p. patagonus'' at 315-390g.
Populations are currently estimated at 5000-6000 individuals.
Another subspecies, ''C. p. whitleyi'' (Kinnear), was described but has since been determined to be an aviary hybrid between a burrowing parrot and a species from the genus ''
Aratinga
''Aratinga'' is a genus of South American conures. Most are predominantly green, although a few are predominantly yellow or orange. They are social and commonly seen in groups in the wild. In Brazil, the popular name of several species usually is ...
'' or possibly ''
Primolius
''Primolius'' is a genus of macaws comprising three species, which are native to South America. They are mainly green parrots with complex colouring including blues, reds and yellows. They have long tails, a large curved beak, and bare facial ski ...
''.
A study on
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
in burrowing parrots suggests that the species originated in Chile, the Argentinian populations arising during the
Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...
from "a single migration event across
the Andes, which gave rise to all extant Argentinean mitochondrial lineages".
The Andes represent a strong geographical barrier, thus isolating the Chilean population, which were found to be
genetically
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working in ...
and
phenotypically
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...
distinct from the Argentinian populations.
This study found no support for ''C. p. conlara'' as a subspecies, and instead suggests a hybrid zone between the ''C. p. patagonus'' and ''C. p. andinus'' ranges where ''C. p. conlara'' represents the hybrid phenotype.
Description
Adults measure 39–52 cm in length, with a
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
of 23–25 cm and a long, graduated tail that can range from 21 to 26 cm. Burrowing parrots are slightly
sexually dimorphic
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...
, with males being slightly larger and weighing approximately 253-340 g, while females weigh 227-304 g,
making it the largest member of the group of New World parakeet species commonly known as
conure
Conures are a diverse, loosely defined group of small to medium-sized parrots. They belong to several genera within a long-tailed group of the New World parrot subfamily Arinae. The term "conure" is used primarily in bird keeping, though it has ...
s.
The burrowing parrot is a distinctive parrot; it has a bare, white eye ring and post-ocular patch, its head and upper back are olive-brown, and its throat and breast are grey-brown with a whitish pectoral marking, which is variable and rarely extends across the whole breast.
The lower thighs and the center of the abdomen are orange-red, and it is thought that the extent and hue of the red plumage indicates the quality of the individual as a breeding partner and parent.
The lower back, upper thighs, rump, vent and flanks are yellow, and the wing coverts olive green.
The tail is olive green with a blue caste when viewed from above and brown from below.
The burrowing parrot has a grey bill and yellow-white iris with pink legs.
Immature birds look like adults but with a horn coloured upper mandible patch and a pale grey iris.
While both sexes look visually similar to the human eye, the burrowing parrot is sexually dichromatic. Males tend to have significantly redder and larger abdominal red patches,
and both sexes look different under UV light, with males have brighter green feathers and females having brighter blue feathers.
Distribution and habitat
The burrowing parrot can be found in much of Argentina, and there are isolated populations in central Chile.
In the winter, birds in central and southern Argentina may
migrate
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
north as far as southern Uruguay, making them austral migrants, while Chilean birds migrate vertically down slope to avoid colder altitudes.
Movements in the populations of northwestern Argentina are also known to occur according to food availability.
The burrowing parrot prefers dry, open country, particularly in the vicinity of water courses, up to 2000 m in elevation.
Habitats include montane grassy shrubland, Patagonian steppes, arid lowland, woodland savanna, and the plains of the
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Gro ...
.
They may also inhabit farmland and the edges of urban areas.
Behaviour and ecology
Diet
The diet of the burrowing parrot comprises seeds, berries, fruits, and possibly vegetable matter,
and they can be seen feeding on the ground or in trees and shrubs.
Their diet varies seasonally, with fruit consumption peaking during Argentina's summer (December–February), where one study found that fruit makes up 2% of their crop contents in November–December, 74% in January, 25% in February, 35%,in March and 8% in April.
Specifically, burrowing parrots have been observed feeding on the fruit from various species such as the red crowberry (''
Empetrum rubrum
''Empetrum rubrum'', known as red crowberry or diddle-dee (Chilean Spanish: '' Murtilla de Magallanes''), is a species of plant in the family Ericaceae with a distributional range in Chile from Talca (35°S) to Cape Horn (55°S); in areas of adj ...
''), Chilean palo verde (''
Geoffroea decorticans
''Geoffroea decorticans'', the chañar, kumbaru, or Chilean palo verde (green wood), is a small deciduous tree, up to 8 meters (25 ft) tall that inhabits most arid forests (montes or espinales) of southern South America. The chañar is cold ...
''), ''Lycium salsum'', pepper trees (''
Schinus sp.'')'',
Prosopis sp.'', ''
Discaria sp.'', as well as
cacti
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
.
In the winter, the burrowing parrot feeds predominantly on seeds from cultivated crops and wild plants such as
thistle
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...
s, as well as the Patagonian oak (''
Nothofagus obliqua
''Nothofagus obliqua'', commonly known as Patagonian oak, ''roble'', ''pellín'', ''roble pellín'', and ''hualle'' in its early state of growth or roble beech, is a deciduous tree from Chile and Argentina. It grows from 33 to 43° south latitude ...
'') and the Carboncillo (''Cordia decandra'') in the Chilean foothills.
Reproduction
Best known for its nesting habits, the burrowing parrot excavates industrious burrows in limestone or sandstone cliff faces, often in ravines. These burrows can be as much as 3 m deep into a cliff-face, connecting with other tunnels to create a labyrinth, ending in a nesting chamber.
Breeding pairs will reuse burrows from previous years but may enlarge them.
They nest in large colonies, some of the largest ever recorded for parrots, which is thought to reduce predation.
The parrots tend to select larger, taller ravines, allowing for larger colonies and higher burrows and resulting in higher breeding success.
In the absence of acceptable ravines or cliffs to use as nesting sites, burrowing parrots will use anthropogenic substrates such as quarries, wells and pits. Rarely, they have been known to nest in tree cavities.
Studies have shown that burrowing parrots are both socially and genetically
monogamous
Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...
. The breeding season begins in September, and eggs are laid up to December, with two up to five eggs laid per clutch.
The incubation period is 24–25 days, where the female is the sole incubator while the male provides for her.
Eggs hatch asynchronously, and mortality is higher for fourth and fifth chicks in a clutch.
Both parents care for the chicks. Chicks begin to fledge in late December until February, approximately eight weeks after hatching,
and the fledglings depend on their parents for up to four months.
Thermoregulation
In order to cope with an unpredictable climate, burrowing parrots increase their body mass and decrease their
basal metabolic rate
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate of food energy, energy expenditure per unit time by endotherm, endothermic animals at rest. It is reported in energy units per unit time ranging from watt (joule/second) to ml O2/min or joule per hour per kg b ...
(BMR) in the winter in order to conserve energy, insulate against cold ambient temperatures and to survive reductions in food availability, in concurrence with other birds found in the southern hemisphere.
Status and relationship to humans
![Cyanoliseus patagonus -Zoo de Lille-8a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Cyanoliseus_patagonus_-Zoo_de_Lille-8a.jpg)
The burrowing parrot currently has a conservation status of
least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
according to the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
, however populations are currently declining, due to exploitation for the wildlife trade and persecution as a crop pest. In Chile, the burrowing parrot (specifically, the ''C. p. bloxami'' subspecies) is on the national vertebrate red list.
It is currently listed under Appendix II of CITES, allowing for international trade.
Due to their nesting habits, they are particularly vulnerable to human disturbances and habitat degradation.
The burrowing parrot was officially named as a crop pest in Argentina in 1984, leading to increased persecution.
Their status as a crop pest has excluded them protection under Argentina's ban on wildlife trade,
however the province of Río Negro has deemed population reductions sufficient and banned hunting and trade of the burrowing parrot as of 2004.
Studies have shown that the effects of crop predation by burrowing parrots is economically insignificant. Additionally, birds of the Chilean subspecies (''C. p. bloxami'') have been hunted for feast-day in Chile.
The
Mapuche
The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...
people of the province of
Neuquén
Neuquén (; arn, Nehuenken) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén rivers w ...
in the Patagonian Andes celebrate the annual fledging of burrowing parrots with a festival.
Aviculture
The burrowing parrot, commonly called the Patagonian conure in aviculture, is a popular
companion parrot
A companion parrot is a parrot kept as a pet that interacts abundantly with its human counterpart. Generally, most species of parrot can make excellent companions, but must be carefully managed around other common pet species like dogs and cats a ...
. It is known for being playful, gentle and affectionate with humans, even cuddly when tame - it can also learn to
talk
Talk may refer to:
Communication
* Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people
* Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people
* Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct
...
and mimic sounds from its environment. As a large parakeet, it requires plenty of living space and the opportunity to fly on a regular basis in order to thrive. The maximum verified lifespan for this species in captivity is 19.5 years, however plausible claims of burrowing parrots living up to 34.1 years have also been reported.
The subspecies typically found in aviculture is the nominate ssp., ''Cyanoliseus patagonus patagonus'' - also known as the lesser Patagonian conure. Tens of thousands of burrowing parakeets were previously removed from the wild and exported for the pet trade, however most birds available for purchase as pets are captive-bred at present.
References
External links
Burrowing Parrot Project
{{Taxonbar, from=Q211253
burrowing parrot
The burrowing parrot (''Cyanoliseus patagonus''), also known as the burrowing parakeet or the Patagonian conure, is a species of parrot native to Argentina and Chile. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Cyanoliseus'', with four subspecies that a ...
Birds of Argentina
burrowing parrot
The burrowing parrot (''Cyanoliseus patagonus''), also known as the burrowing parakeet or the Patagonian conure, is a species of parrot native to Argentina and Chile. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Cyanoliseus'', with four subspecies that a ...
Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot