Hellmayr's Parakeet

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Hellmayr's Parakeet

Not recognized (IUCN 3.1)

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Psittacidae
Genus:	Pyrrhura
Species:	P. amazonum

Binomial name

Pyrrhura amazonum
Hellmayr, 1906

Synonyms

Pyrrhura picta amazonum Pyrrhura picta microtera Pyrrhura picta snethlageae Pyrrhura snethlageae

The Hellmayr's Parakeet (Pyrrhura amazonum), also known as the Hellmayr's Conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is found in the eastern and central sections of the Amazon basin south of the Amazon River, only just extending onto the northern bank of this river. It includes the Madeira Parakeet (P. amazonum snethlageae), also known as the Madeira Conure, which sometimes is considered a separate species (see Taxonomy).

1 Description
2 Habitat & Behavior
3 Taxonomy
4 References & External links

[edit] Description

Total length ca. 22 cm (8½ in). As other members of the Pyrrhura picta complex, it is a long-tailed mainly green parakeet with a dark red belly, rump and tail-tip (tail all dark red from below), a whitish or dull buff patch on the auriculars and bluish remiges. The cheeks and ocular region are dark maroon. The nominate subspecies (P. a. amazonum) has a narrow blue forehead-band and pale grey scaling to the chest. The second subspecies, P. a. snethlageae has little or no blue to the forecrown and its chest is, uniquely for the P. picta complex, overall very pale, almost whitish, with relatively narrow, dark pointed markings. Some individuals of this subspecies have a yellowish eye-ring (the basis for this variation remains unknown), but it is more typically dark grey as in the nominate subspecies. Both subspecies have dark greyish legs.

[edit] Habitat & Behavior

It is restricted to Brazil and Bolivia. It occurs in tropical humid lowland forest and adjacent habitats. It is social and typically seen in pairs or groups. It feeds on fruits, seeds and flowers. The nest is placed in a tree cavity. It is fairly common in most of its range and occurs in several protected areas, e.g. P. a. amazonum occurs in the Amazônia National Park, Pará, Brazil, while P. a. snethlageae occurs in the Cristalino State Park, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

[edit] Taxonomy

It has typically been considered a subspecies of the Painted Parakeet. While reviewing this group, Joseph (2002) discovered that an undescribed population existed in central Brazil (later also found in north-eastern Bolivia). It was described as Pyrrhura snethlageae (Joseph and Blake, 2002). No diagnostic difference were found between the taxa amazonum and microtera; it was therefore recommend that the latter should be considered a junior synonym of the former. As with most other taxa of the Pyrrhura picta complex, it was recommended that amazonum should be recognized as a monotypic species, P. amazonum, instead of a subspecies of P. picta. While few have expressed doubts over the validity of snethlageae as a distinct taxon, most authorities (notably SACC and Howard & Moore) recognized neither it nor amazonum as anything but subspecies of P. picta. Ribas et al (2006) confirmed by mtDNA that P. amazonum should be considered a species separate from P. picta (otherwise, P. picta would be paraphyletic), but also showed that snethlageae was very close to, and therefore better considered a subspecies of, P. amazonum (as already had been expected due to a number of intermediate specimens suggesting that hybrids occur). The taxonomic status in relations to Deville's Parakeet remain unclear.

[edit] References & External links

Arthur Grosset: Photos of Pyrrhura (amazonum) snethlageae
Joseph, L. (2002). Geographic variation, taxonomy and distribution of some Amazonian Pyrrhura parakeets. Ornitologia Neotrpical 13(4): 337-363.
Juniper, T., and M. Parr (1998). A Guide to the Parrots of the World. Pica Press, East Sussex. ISBN 1-873403-40-2
Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 6 Sep. 2007. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union.
Ribas, C. C., L. Joseph, C. Y. Miyaki (2006). Molecular sytematics and patterns of diversification in Pyrrhura (Psittacidae), with special reference to the picta-leucotis complex. Auk 123(3): 660-680.