Sulfur-breasted Parakeet

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Sulfur-breasted Parakeet
Group of Brimstone Parakeets in Monte Alegre (Pará), Brazil

Group of Brimstone Parakeets in Monte Alegre (Pará) , Brazil

Systematics
Order : Parrots (Psittaciformes)
Family : True parrots (Psittacidae)
Tribe : New World Parrots (Arini)
Genre : Macaws ( Aratinga )
Type : Sulfur-breasted Parakeet
Scientific name
Aratinga maculata
( Statius Müller , 1776)

The Sulfur- breasted Parakeet ( Aratinga maculata ) is a South American parrot from the genus of the Macaw Parakeets ( Aratinga ).

description

The sulfur-breasted parakeet reaches a body length of 30 cm and a weight of 110 g. The plumage is predominantly yellow. The skull, the mantle and the upper wing-coverts are light greenish-yellow. In the latter, the spring centers are greenish. The lower upper wing-coverts are light yellow. The color becomes increasingly parrot green towards the large wing covers and the umbrella feathers. The remaining flight feathers and the hand covers are deep blue. The inner flags of the hand wings are black and the basal half of the outer flags are green. The center of the tail is largely olive green with a blue distal area. The blue color increases towards the outer tail feathers. The outermost control springs are completely blue. The head and the underside are predominantly light yellow. The lower forehead area, the orbital ring , the abdomen and the flanks are orange. A few dark shaft stripes can be seen on the underside. The under wing and under tail coverts are blackish gray, the latter have an olive tinge to the inner vents. The iris is dark gray. The beak is black, the feet are dark brown. From the similar Golden Conure ( Guaruba guarouba ), the species is distinguished mainly by its paler color and the smaller size. The call is a high and high- pitched skriek skriek skriek .

distribution

Its distribution area is east of Óbidos on the northern bank of the lower Amazon in the Brazilian state of Pará . The birds live in groups of two to ten specimens in open habitats with sandy bottoms and can also often be seen in the town of Monte Alegre .

Systematics

The Sulfur- breasted Parakeet belongs to the genus of the Macaws ( Aratinga ) and forms a monophyletic clade within the genus with the Jendaya Parakeet, the Sun Parakeet, the Golden- fronted Parakeet ( Aratinga auricapilla ) and possibly the Nanday Parakeet ( Nandayus nenday ) .

In 2005 the form Aratinga pintoi was scientifically described as a new species and named after the Brazilian ornithologist Olivério Mário de Oliveira Pinto (1896–1981). In 2009 it became known that A. pintoi is identical to the form Psittacus maculatus described by Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller in 1776 . According to the statutes of the ICZN , both taxa were then synonymous and Statius Müller's scientific name was given priority under the new combination Aratinga maculata .

literature