Hellmayr's Parakeet
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Santarém parakeet (''Pyrrhura amazonum''), also known as Hellmayr'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 Hellmayr's conure or the Santarém 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 found in the eastern and central sections of the
Amazon basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
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 ...
, only just extending onto the northern bank of this river.


Taxonomy

There are three subspecies recognized by the
International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
: * ''P. a. amazonum'' Hellmayr, 1906 - north 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 ...
between Monte Alegre and Obidos, south of the Amazon between the
Tapajós The Tapajós ( pt, Rio Tapajós ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. It is one of the largest clearw ...
and
Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 20 ...
rivers * ''P. a. pallescens'' Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926 (previously ''P. a. snethlageae'') -
Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...
basin in southwest Brazil and northern Bolivia * ''P. a. lucida'' Arndt, 2008 - in the vicinity of the
Teles Pires The Teles Pires ( pt, Rio São Manuel) is a long river in Brazil. The river flows through the state of Mato Grosso and its lower part marks the border between the states of Mato Grosso and Pará. At its mouth it joins Juruena River and together t ...
and Cristalino Rivers, in
Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...
It has typically been considered a subspecies of the
painted parakeet 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 ...
. While reviewing this group, Joseph (2002) discovered that an undescribed population existed in central Brazil (later also found in north-eastern Bolivia). It was described as ''Pyrrhura snethlageae'' (Joseph and Bates, 2002). No diagnostic difference was found between the
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 ...
''amazonum'' and ''microtera''; it was therefore recommend that the latter should be considered a
junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...
of the former. As with most other taxa of the ''Pyrrhura picta'' complex, it was recommended that ''amazonum'' 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. amazonum'', instead of a subspecies of ''P. picta''. Ribas ''et al.'' (2006) confirmed by
mtDNA 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 DNA ...
that ''P. amazonum'' should be considered a species separate from ''P. picta'' (otherwise, ''P. picta'' would be
paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
), but also showed that ''snethlageae'' was very close to, and arguably better considered a subspecies of, ''P. amazonum'' (as already had been expected due to a number of intermediate specimens suggesting that hybrids occur). Consequently, SACC voted to recognize ''P. amazonum'' as a species with ''snethlageae'' as a subspecies. Arndt (2008) described yet another taxon from this complex, ''lucida'', as a subspecies of ''P. snethlageae'', but under the taxonomy used by the IOC, it becomes a subspecies of ''P. amazonum''. 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. ...
status in relations to Deville's parakeet remains unclear. In 2016, a review of names found ''snethlageae'' to apply to a previously-described subspecies, ''pallescens'', and to thus be synonymous with that subspecies. This synonymization was followed by the IOC.


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), a whitish or dull buff 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 ocular region are dark maroon. The nominate subspecies (''P. a. amazonum'') has a narrow blue forehead-band and pale grey scaling to the chest. The remaining subspecies, ''P. a. snethlageae'' and ''P. a. lucida'', have little or no blue to the forecrown and their chests are, uniquely for the ''P. picta'' complex, overall pale with relatively narrow, dark pointed markings. ''P. a. lucida'' is slightly smaller and paler than ''P. a. snethlageae''. Some ''P. a. snethlageae'' have a yellowish eye-ring (the basis for this variation remains unknown), but it is more commonly dark grey as in the remaining subspecies. All subspecies have dark greyish legs.


Habitat and behavior

It is restricted to
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 ...
and
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
. 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 fairly common in most of its range and occurs in several protected areas, e.g. ''P. a. amazonum'' occurs in the
Amazônia National Park The Amazônia National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional da Amazônia) was created in 1974, as a national park comprising 1,070,737 ha. It is situated in Itaituba and Trairão municipalities, Pará state, in the north region of Brazil. It is located in ...
,
Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...
, Brazil, while ''P. a. lucida'' occurs in the
Cristalino State Park The Cristalino State Park ( pt, Parque Estadual do Cristalino) is a state park in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Location The Cristalino State Park is in the municipalities of Alta Floresta and Novo Mundo in the extreme north of Mato Grosso ...
,
Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...
, Brazil.


References


Further reading

* Arndt, T. (2008). ''Anmerkungen zu einigen Pyrrhura-Formen mit der Beschreibung einer neuen Art und zweier neuer Unterarten.'' Papageien 8/2008. * Arthur Grosset (2003)
Photos of ''Pyrrhura (amazonum) snethlageae'' and ''Pyrrhura (amazonum) lucida''
* 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

* 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. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2996196 Santarém parakeet Birds of the Amazon Basin Endemic birds of Brazil Santarém parakeet