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Pyrrhura

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Pyrrhura
Green-cheeked parakeet (Pyrrhura molinae)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Tribe: Arini
Genus: Pyrrhura
Bonaparte, 1856
Type species
Psittacus vittatus[1]
Shaw, 1811
Species

See text.

Maroon-tailed parakeet (in front), and black-capped parakeet (behind); illustration by Keulemans, 1891

Pyrrhura (Ancient Greek for red/fire tail)[2] is a genus of parrots in the Arini tribe. They occur in tropical and subtropical South America and southern Central America (Panama and Costa Rica). Most are restricted to humid forest and adjacent habitats, but one species, the blaze-winged parakeet, prefers deciduous or gallery woodland, and another, the Pfrimer's parakeet, is restricted to dry regions. Some species are highly endangered.

Depending on the species, the total length range from 22 to 30 cm (8.7 to 11.8 in). All have long, pointed tails, a mainly green plumage, and a relatively narrow, dark greyish to white eye-ring. Many have scaly or barred chest-patterns and a whitish, pale grey, buff or reddish ear-patch.

They typically move around in small, noisy flocks, flying swiftly at or below canopy level. Once settled in a tree they tend to be silent (especially if aware of danger) and difficult to spot. They nest in a tree-crevice.

Some species are popular in aviculture, where they are commonly referred to as conures instead of parakeets.[3]

Taxonomy

[edit]

The genus Pyrrhura was introduced in 1856 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte.[4][5] Bonaparte did not specify a type species but this was designated in 1891 by the Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori as Psittacus vittatus Shaw, 1811, which has been replaced by Psittacus frontalis Vieillot, 1818, the maroon-bellied parakeet.[6][7] The genus name is from the specific epithet of Microsittace pyrrhura Bonaparte, 1854 now Pyrrhura molinae Massena & Souancé, 1854, the green-cheeked parakeet. The name combines the Ancient Greek purrhos meaning "flame-coloured" or "red" with oura meaning "tail".[2]

Species

[edit]

The genus contains 26 species:[8]

Genus Pyrrhura – Shaw, 1811 – twenty six species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Ochre-marked parakeet

 Pyrrhura cruentata
(Wied, 1820)		 Bahia, Espírito Santo, east Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  VU 


Blaze-winged parakeet

 Pyrrhura devillei
(Massena & Souancé, 1854)		 Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and possibly Argentina.
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Maroon-bellied parakeet

 Pyrrhura frontalis
(Vieillot, 1818)

Two subspecies
  • P. f. frontalis (Vieillot, 1818)
  • P. f. chiripepe (Vieillot, 1818)
Southern Brazil
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Pearly parakeet

 Pyrrhura lepida
(Wagler, 1832)

Three subspecies
  • P. l. lepida (Wagler, 1832)
  • P. l. anerythra (Neumann, 1927)
  • P. l. coerulescens (Neumann, 1927)
Brazil(northeastern Pará and northwestern Maranhão)
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  VU 


Crimson-bellied parakeet

 Pyrrhura perlata
(Spix, 1824)		 Bolivia and Brazil
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Green-cheeked parakeet

 Pyrrhura molinae
(Massena & Souancé, 1854)

Six subspecies
  • P. m. flavoptera Maijer, Herzog, Kessler, Friggens & Fjeldsa, 1998
  • P. m. molinae (Massena & Souance, 1854)
  • P. m. phoenicura (Schlegel, 1864)
  • P. m. hypoxantha (Salvadori 1899)
  • P. m. restricta Todd, 1947
  • P. m. australis Todd, 1915
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Pfrimer's parakeet

 Pyrrhura pfrimeri
Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920		 Brazil (Goiás and Tocantins)
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  EN 


Grey-breasted parakeet

 Pyrrhura griseipectus
Salvadori, 1900		 Brazilian (Ceará, Bahia)
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  EN 


White-eared parakeet

 Pyrrhura leucotis
(Kuhl, 1820)		 Brazil (Bahia south to Rio de Janeiro state)
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  VU 


Painted parakeet

 Pyrrhura picta
(Müller, 1776)		 southeastern Venezuela to the Guianas and northern Amazonian Brazil
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Subandean parakeet

 Pyrrhura subandina
(Todd, 1917)

Two subspecies
  • Azuero parakeet, P. s. eisenmanni Delgado, JA, 1985
  • Sinú parakeet, P. s. subandina Todd, WEC, 1917
Panama, Colombia Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  CR 


Perija parakeet

 Pyrrhura caeruleiceps
(Todd, 1947)

Two subspecies
  • P. c. caeruliceps
  • P. c. pantchenko
Colombia and Venezuela.
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  EN 


Venezuelan parakeet

 Pyrrhura emma
Salvadori, 1891		 Venezuela Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Santarem parakeet

 Pyrrhura amazonum
Hellmayr, 1906

Three subspecies
  • P. a. amazonum Hellmayr, 1906
  • P. a. pallescens Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926
  • P. a. lucida Arndt, 2008
Brazil and Bolivia.
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  NT 


Bonaparte's parakeet

 Pyrrhura lucianii
(Deville, 1851)		 Brazilian (Amazonas)
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Rose-fronted parakeet

 Pyrrhura roseifrons
(Gray, 1859)

Four subspecies
  • P. r. peruviana Hocking, Blake & Joseph, 2002
  • P. r. dilutissima Arndt, 2008
  • P. r. parvifrons Arndt, 2008
  • P. r. roseifrons (Gray, 1859)
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Santa Marta parakeet

 Pyrrhura viridicata
Todd, 1913		 northern Colombia
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  EN 


Fiery-shouldered parakeet

 Pyrrhura egregia
(Sclater, PL, 1881)

Two subspecies
  • P. e. egregia
  • P. e. obscura
Guyana, Brazil and Venezuela
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Maroon-tailed parakeet

 Pyrrhura melanura
(Spix, 1824)

Five subspecies
 Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


El Oro parakeet

 Pyrrhura orcesi
Ridgely & Robbins, 1988		 Ecuador.
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  EN 


Black-capped parakeet

 Pyrrhura rupicola
(Tschudi, 1844)

Two subspecies
  • P. r. rupicola
  • P. r. sandiae
Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


White-breasted parakeet

 Pyrrhura albipectus
Chapman, 1914		 Ecuador, Peru
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  VU 


Flame-winged parakeet

 Pyrrhura calliptera
(Massena & Souancé, 1854)		 Colombia
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  VU 


Blood-eared parakeet

 Pyrrhura hoematotis
(Souancé, 1857)

Two subspecies
 Venezuela
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  NT 


Rose-crowned parakeet

 Pyrrhura rhodocephala
(Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1871)		 Venezuela
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 


Sulphur-winged parakeet

 Pyrrhura hoffmanni
(Cabanis, 1861)

Two subspecies
  • P. h. hoffmanni (Cabanis, 1861)
  • P. h. gaudens (Bangs, 1906)
Costa Rica and Panama.
Map of range		 Size:

Habitat:

Diet:		  LC 






References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Psittacidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  2. 1 2 Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 327. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. ↑ "Pyrrhura Conures | Beauty of Birds". 16 September 2021.
  4. ↑ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1856). "Conspectum Psittacorum". Naumannia: Archiv für die Ornithologie Vorzugsweise Europa's. 6. Genus 14.
  5. ↑ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1937). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 194.
  6. ↑ Salvadori, Tommaso (1891). Catalogue of the Psittaci, or Parrots, in the collection of the British Museum. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Vol. 20. London: British Museum. p. 211.
  7. ↑ Dickinson, E.C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr., eds. (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 363. ISBN 978-0-9568611-0-8.
  8. ↑ AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  • Arndt, T. (2008). Anmerkungen zu einigen Pyrrhura-Formen mit der Beschreibung einer neuen Art und zweier neuer Unterarten. Papageien 8/2008.
  • Joseph, L. (2002). Geographic variation, taxonomy and distribution of some Amazonian Pyrrhura parakeets. Ornitologia Neotropical 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 28 Jun. 2007. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union.
  • Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino. (2006). Birds of Northern South America - An Identification Guide.. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-7242-0
  • Ribas, C., L. Joseph, and C. Miyaki (2006). Molecular systematics and patterns of diversification in Pyrrhura (Psittacidae), with special reference to the picta-leucotis complex. Auk 123 (3): 660–680.
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