The sulphur-breasted parakeet (''Aratinga maculata''), or sulphur-breasted 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 ...

from

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

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. It resembles the closely related

sun parakeet The sun parakeet (''Aratinga solstitialis''), also known in aviculture as the sun conure, is a medium-sized, vibrantly colored parrot native to northeastern South America. The adult male and female are similar in appearance, with black beaks, pre ...

.Silveira, L. F., F. C. T. de Lima, and E. Höfling (2005). A new species of ''Aratinga'' parakeet (Psittaciformes:Psittacidae) from Brazil, with taxonomic remarks on the ''Aratinga solstitialis'' complex. ''

The Auk ''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...

'' 122: 292-305

Taxonomy

First described in 1776, ''A. maculata'' had long been dismissed as

invalid Invalid may refer to: * Patient, a sick person * one who is confined to home or bed because of illness, disability or injury (sometimes considered a politically incorrect term) * .invalid, a top-level Internet domain not intended for real use As t ...

. It was rediscovered as part of a study of

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

s of the

and related species. Specimens of the sulphur-breasted parakeet had previously been dismissed as immature sun parakeets or hybrids. Believing it represented an entirely undescribed species, it was described as ''A. pintoi'' (in honour of the Brazilian

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Olivério Pinto) in 2005. Only in 2009 was it shown that ''A. maculata'' and the "new" ''A. pintoi'' were the same.Nemésio, A. & C. Rasmussen (2009)
The rediscovery of Buffon's "Guarouba" or "Perriche jaune": two senior synonyms of ''Aratinga pintoi'' Silveira, Lima, & Höfling, 2005 (Aves: Psittaciformes)
(pdf). ''Zootaxa'' 2013: 1–16. Some believe the sulphur-breasted parakeet is better regarded as 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 the sun parakeet.

Distribution and appearance

Following the realisation that the sulphur-breasted parakeet was a valid species, the first records of living birds were from east of Óbidos on the northern bank of the lower

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 ...

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) ...

. Since then, it has been reported more widely at low densities in the Pará state north of the Amazon River, but still no records have been reported from neighbouring parts of

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

, where it probably also occurs. Additionally, three specimens kept at the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

have been identified as this species. They were taken from the

Sipaliwini Savanna The Sipaliwini Savanna is a protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which var ...

in southern

. Recent sightings from the same region have also been identified as sulphur-breasted parakeets. This suggests that it possibly comes into contact with the closely related and very similar sun parakeet. Unlike adult sun parakeets, sulphur-breasted parakeets have clear green suffusion to the mantle, wing-

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

and underparts, but this is shared with juvenile sun parakeets. Adults of both species have a dark greyish eye ring in the wild, but this commonly fades to whitish in captives, at least in the sun parakeet (this is the source of the mistaken idea that the colour of the eye ring separates the two).

References

External links

*BirdLife International (2005).
Parrot that eluded ornithologists for a century.
' {{Taxonbar, from=Q1269139

sulphur-breasted parakeet The sulphur-breasted parakeet (''Aratinga maculata''), or sulphur-breasted conure is a species of parrot from Brazil and Suriname. It resembles the closely related sun parakeet.Silveira, L. F., F. C. T. de Lima, and E. Höfling (2005). A new spec ...

Birds of the Guianas Birds of the Amazon Basin