The saffron-headed parrot (''Pyrilia pyrilia'') 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 was previously placed in the

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 ...

'' Pionopsitta'', but moved out, as it is not as close to 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 ...

Pionopsitta pileata The South American pileated parrot (''Pionopsitta pileata''), also known as the red-capped parrot (leading to easy confusion with the Australian ''Purpureicephalus spurius''), is a medium-small species of parrot with a total length of about . It ...

'' as it was believed. It was briefly placed in ''Gypopsitta'', but this is 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 ''Pyrilia'' and thus the saffron-headed parrot is now placed in the latter genus. It is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and possibly

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s. It has some tolerance to habitat alteration, depending on woodland but not being restricted to

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

.Laverde-R., Oscar; Stiles, F. Gary; & Múnera-R., Claudia. (2005). ''Nuevos registros e inventario de la avifauna de la Serranía de las Quinchas, un área importante para la conservación de las aves (AICA) en Colombia'' ew records and updated inventory of the avifauna of the Serranía de las Quinchas, an important bird area (IBA) in Colombia ''Caldasia'' 27(2): 247-265 panish with English abstractbr>PDF fulltext
The saffron-headed parrot is becoming rare due by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. It was considered to be noticeably declining and thus uplisted to vulnerable in the 2000

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 ...

. Since then, it has been found to be more common than previously believed—though still becoming rarer—with robust populations in some places (e.g., the

Serranía de las Quinchas The Serranía de las Quinchas is an 860 km2 area of tropical rainforest and cloud forest in Colombia. It lies in the mid Magdalena River Valley in the foothills of the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes. It ranges in altitude from ...

of ColombiaCuervo, Andrés M.; Hernández-Jaramillo, Alejandro; Cortés-Herrera, José Oswaldo & Laverde, Oscar. (2007). Nuevos registros de aves en la parte alta de la Serranía de las Quinchas, Magdalena medio, Colombia ew bird records from the highlands of Serranía de las Quinchas, middle Magdalena valley, Colombia ''Ornitología Colombiana'' 5: 94-98 panish with English abstractbr>PDF fulltext
) and thus it was downlisted from vulnerable to near-threatened in the 2007

References

saffron-headed parrot The saffron-headed parrot (''Pyrilia pyrilia'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It was previously placed in the genus '' Pionopsitta'', but moved out, as it is not as close to the type species '' Pionopsitta pileata'' as it was ...

Birds of Colombia Birds of Panama Birds of Venezuela Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of South America Near threatened fauna of North America

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{parrot-stub