Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet

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Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet
Pyrrhura griseipectus -upper body-8a-2c.jpg

Salvadoran White -eared Parakeet ( Pyrrhura griseipectus )

Systematics
Order : Parrots (Psittaciformes)
Family : True parrots (Psittacidae)
Tribe : New World Parrots (Arini)
Genre : Red-tailed Parakeets ( Pyrrhura )
Type : Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet
Scientific name
Pyrrhura griseipectus
Salvadori , 1900

The Salvadori white-eared parakeet or gray-breasted parakeet ( Pyrrhura griseipectus ) is a species of parrot from the genus of the red-tailed parakeet ( Pyrrhura ). It is native to Brazil.

features

The Salvadorian White-eared Parakeet reaches a size of 22 to 23 centimeters. It differs from the nominate form in its more banded gray chest, a more intense white coloration of the ear covers and the lack of blue coloration of the forehead. The wing length is 116 to 127 millimeters. In adult birds, the area between the forehead and neck is dark brown with leather-brown spots and strands. The headband, reins, cheeks, and the area behind the eyes are reddish-brown. The ear covers are white. The breast is dull gray with white and dark gray bands. The rear nape feathers are green with wide blue borders. The middle of the abdomen, a spot on the lower back and the upper tail-covers are brownish-red. The tail is reddish-brown. The beak is gray-black. Around the brownish-orange iris runs an unfleathered gray-white eye ring. The legs are brownish-gray. The juvenile birds are more dull in color than the adult birds with less pronounced banding on the chest. Isolated green feathers can be seen on the red spots on the lower abdomen. The wax skin and the eye ring are white and less grayish.

habitat

The Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet lives in damp mountain forest slaves above 500 meters in the otherwise semi-arid northeast of Brazil. These humid "heavenly islands" are locally known as "Brejos". The wet forest zone changes into a semi-arid deciduous forest zone and finally into the dry Caatinga steppe. Forests are limited to the highlands with granite and sandy floors, where annual rainfall is four times that of the lowlands.

Way of life

Little is known about the way of life of the Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet. It is a gregarious bird that can often be found in groups of up to 20 individuals. It is noisy in flight, but very quiet when eating in the treetops, so that it is difficult to observe. The main diet consists of the fruits of Inga bahiensis , Byrsonima sp., Syzigium jambolanum , Eryobotria japonica and the seeds of Croton sp. The breeding season is from February to May. A nest was discovered at a height of 8 meters in a breeding cave in a tree of the legume species Inga bahiensis . The clutch consists of 2 to 4 eggs which are on average 25.1 mm long, 19.9 mm in diameter and 5.4 g in weight.

Existence and endangerment

The Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN . During a counting operation of the nature conservation organization AQUASIS (Associação de pesquisa e preservação de ecossistemas aquáticos) in 2007, 80 specimens were recorded, which presumably represent a total population of less than 250 individuals. The main threats are the loss of habitat and the catches for the cage bird trade. The Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet was originally found in four regions in northeastern Brazil, today only one population is believed to have survived on the Baturité massif in the state of Ceará. Here, too, it seems to be very rare. The forests in the Baturité Mountains have been severely cleared to make way for coffee plantations. In 1996 only 13 percent of the wooded area was preserved. Earlier occurrences are known from the eastern slopes of the Serra de Ibiapaba and from the area around Quixada and from the Serra Negra in Pernambuco, where the Salvadoran white-eared parakeet was still common around 1974. There were unconfirmed sightings at the Murici ecological station in 1991, but these may have been released specimens. A search for populations outside the Baturité Mountains in 2007 and 2008 remained unsuccessful.

Since 2007 the ZGAP , together with the Chester Zoo and since 2010 with the Loro Parque Fundación, has been promoting a conservation project that is carried out by the Brazilian nature conservation organization Aquasis . Part of this project is to complete the basic data on the biology of the species, through field investigations which include color-coded guides and collecting DNA samples. The DNA samples can not only be used for scientific questions, but also to identify illegal catches. Nest boxes are also hung up. Over 300 additional young birds flown out as a result of the nesting box campaign, in 2015 alone there were over 100 young birds. This brood support tripled the free range population of the species. The remaining population in 2007 consisted of less than 100 individuals. As a result of the protective measures, the total population has grown to almost 1,000 individuals by 2019.

Systematics

Based on a cage bird of unknown origin, the Salvadori White-eared Parakeet was described by Tommaso Salvadori as an independent species in 1900. Due to the great similarity with the white-eared parakeet, Carl Eduard Hellmayr considered the taxon as a subspecies in 1929. In 2000, on the basis of diagnostic differences in size and plumage, Leo Joseph stated that the Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet can be separated from the White-eared Parakeet. In 2005 the South American Classification Committee followed this assessment and classified it as an independent species. Based on a molecular analysis from 2006, Camila C. Ribas showed that the genetic differences between the Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet and the White-eared Parakeet are too small to maintain their species status. As a result, the South American Classification Committee (SACC) decided in 2008 to downgrade the Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet again as a subspecies of the White-eared Parakeet. After the differences between the Salvadoran White-eared Parakeet and the White-eared Parakeet (especially in terms of plumage color and vocalizations) had been explained in detail in 2009, the SACC decided in 2010 to re-assess the species status.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ BirdLife International: Gray-breasted Parakeet recovers from three fledglings to a thousand. Retrieved May 17, 2020 (American English).
  2. ↑ Alberto Alve Campos, Jason Alan Mobly, Fabio Nunes: Protection project for the Salvatori white- fronted parakeet is making good progress. In: ZGAP messages. Issue 1, 2013, pp. 26-27.
  3. ↑ Programa de Conservação de Aves Ameaçadas. Periquito cara-suja. (www.aquasis.org) ( Memento from March 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Short messages from all over the world. In: ZGAP messages. 1/2015 without page number.
  5. ↑ Rafael Zamora Padrón: Ex situ and in situ conservation at the Loro Parque Fundación . In: Zoo-Verein Wuppertal eV (ed.): Pinguinal . No. 26 . Self-published by Zooverein, January 2020, ISSN  1866-1920 , p. 60-63 .
  6. ^ CE Hellmayr: A contribution to the ornithology of northeastern Brazil. In: Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. 12, 1929, pp. 235-526.
  7. ↑ L. Joseph: Beginning an end to 63 years of uncertainty: the Neotropical parakeets known as Pyrrhura picta and P. leucotis comprise more than two species. In: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia. 150, 2000, pp. 279-292.
  8. ↑ Treat Pyrrhura griseipectus and P. pfrimeri as distinct species from Pyrrhura leucotis. ( Memento of the original from February 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.museum.lsu.edu
  9. ↑ CC Ribas, L. Joseph, CR Miyaki: Molecular systematics and patterns of diversification in Pyrrhura (Psittacidae) with special reference to the picta-leucotis complex. In: Auk. 123, 2006, pp. 660-680.
  10. ↑ Redefine species limits in Pyrrhura picta and leucotis complexes. ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.museum.lsu.edu
  11. ^ SACC Recent Changes (passed 5 September 08)
  12. ↑ SACC Recent Changes (passed 18 May 10) ( Memento of the original dated November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.museum.lsu.edu

literature

  • Fábio Olmos, Weber AG Silva, Ciro Albano: Gray-breasted Conure Pyrrhura griseipectus, an overlooked endangered species. In: Cotinga. 24, 2005, pp. 77-83.
  • Weber Girão, Alberto Campos, Ciro Albano: The Conservation Project for the Salvadoran White -eared Parakeet. In: Parrots - specialist magazine about keeping, breeding and freeing of parrots and parakeets. Volume 21, Arndt-Verlag January 2008, pp. 29–33. (PDF)
  • Joseph Michael Forshaw : Parrots of the World - An Identification Guide . Princeton University Press, Princeton 2006, ISBN 0-691-09251-6 .

Web links