The El Oro parakeet, conure D'Orcès, cotorra de El Oro, or perico de El Oro (''Pyrrhura orcesi'') 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 Psittacoide ...

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 Neotropi ...

, endemic to

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: ' ...

. It is a relatively newly identified species, having been discovered in 1980. Little is currently known about it.

Description

The body is mostly covered by a darkish green color with a red forehead (the females lack the red forehead). The edges of the wings, and the end of the tail, also have this same red color. On the outer edges of the wings, there is a bluish color. Feet are dark grey, the eyes are surrounded by a white circle and the bill is horn colored. It is approximately 22 cm long and weighs 73 g. The juveniles have duller colors and a reduced red forehead.

Behavior

Their flocks can have from 4 to 12 members and the breeding seasons are between March and June. They eat mostly fruit and seeds in the canopy of the forests. The young are fed regurgitated food from the adults. Bird calls are short, high-pitched shrills and squeaks that continue throughout flight and while foraging for food. They are very social, like most parrots, and fly and eat in large groups. El Oro parakeets breed cooperatively, a breeding pair being accompanied by up to 6 helper individuals.

Conservation

It is endangered because of extreme

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

and

forest fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processe ...

for cattle ranching, which causes

habitat degradation 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 ...

. This degradation destroys the nesting sites and feeding areas the birds rely on to survive and reproduce at a healthy rate. The habitat is restricted to only the west Andes of

and because of this the sensitivity to its

habitat destruction 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 ...

is heavy. Protection for some of this species' habitat has been established in the Buenaventura Ecological Reserve. In the reserves, bird houses have been built in the trees to help promote reproduction and has had some success. Further projects have been proposed to assess the population size.

References

* Ridgely, Robert S., and Mark B. Robbins. "PYRRHURA ORCESI, A NEW PARAKEET FROM SOUTHWESTERN ECUADOR, WITH SYSTEMATIC NOTES ON THE P. MELANURA COMPLEX." The Wilson Bulletin 100.2 (1987): 173–82. Google Docs. Web. 1 May 2010. *Schaefer, H. M., and Veronika Schmidt. Final Report El Oro Parakeet Project, Southwestern Ecuador 2002–2003. Rep. Google Docs. Web. 1 May 2010. . *Ridgely, and Robbins. "Lexicon of Parrots." Lexicon of Parrots. 1988. Web. 1 May 2010

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q580007 Pyrrhura, El Oro parakeet Birds of Ecuador Endemic birds of Ecuador El Oro parakeet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fauna of the northwestern Andean montane forests