The Caatinga parakeet (''Eupsittula cactorum'') or cactus parakeet or Cactus 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

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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Caatinga Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...

region in north-eastern

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 ...

. The Caatinga Parakeet is a parakeet that is found in the regions of Cerrado and Caatinga regions. Due to the environment that the Caatinga Parakeet live in their diet mainly consists of dryland vegetation of the regions of Caatinga. These Parakeets are often sold as pets in markets or are illegally traded across the countries and in the regions. The Caatinga Parakeet is a colorful bird. Both male and female birds are generally a green and yellow avian. The immature parakeet is generally paler than their mature counterparts. Their head, face, and chest area are a brown color while their abdominal regions are orange and the tail is tipped with blue.

Environment

The Caatinga parakeet natively inhabits the Caatinga region of Brazil, which is in the Northeastern portion of Brazil. The environment in this region is a “semi- desert.” There are seasonal savannahs and dry forests in this area of Brazil.

Diet

Due to the environment the Caatinga parakeet populates, their diet mainly consists of cactus seeds, fruits and berries which can be found in the desertous terrain of the Caatinga area. The parakeets are also known to forage crops such as rice, corn, and grapes.

Conservation

The Cactus parakeet is not considered to be an endangered species of bird. Though it has an unknown population size, this parakeet species has a stable population.

Subspecies

There are two types of subspecies of Eupsittula cactorum:

''Eupsittula cactorum cactorum''

This subspecies of parakeets are found in Bay all the way to the San Francisco River and to the northeastern parts of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This is the nominal subspecies of the Cactus parakeets.

''Eupsittula cactorum caixana''

As for this subspecies it is found on the left side of the San Francisco River. They inhabit the northeastern parts of the Bay all the way to Maranhão. This subspecies is considered to be an endangered subspecies of the Cactus parakeets. The parakeet's appearance tends to be lighter in color and have a yellow abdominal region instead of orange, when compared to the nominal subspecies.

References

External links

World Parrot Trust
Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles

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The Birds of the Interior of Ceará, Brazil
Eupsittula Birds of the Caatinga Endemic birds of Brazil Parrots of South America Birds described in 1820 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{parrot-stub