The Socorro parakeet (''Psittacara brevipes'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals 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 Psittaco ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Socorro Island Socorro Island ( es, Isla Socorro) is a small volcanic island in the Revillagigedo Islands, a Mexican possession lying off the country's western coast. The size is 16.5 by 11.5 km (10.25 by 7.15 miles), with an area of . It is the larges ...

in the

Revillagigedo Islands The Revillagigedo Islands ( es, Islas Revillagigedo, ) or Revillagigedo Archipelago are a group of four volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, known for their unique ecosystem. They lie approximately from Socorro Island south and southwest of C ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Some ornithologists consider it to be a subspecies of the

green parakeet The green parakeet (''Psittacara holochlorus'') is a medium-sized parrot occurring in North and Central America, from the southernmost tip of Texas south to northern Nicaragua. Description The green parakeet is 32 cm in length, and i ...

(''Psittacara holochlorus''). Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, disco ...

. The Socorro parakeet's mating season starts in November.

Status

It is threatened by

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 ...

due to

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

sheep and predation by feral cats. At present, there is no clear evidence of population decline. However, due to the restricted

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

and small population size of this species, it may meet the IUCN criteria for a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulne ...

.Martínez-Gómez, J. E., Matías-Ferrer, N., & Escalante-Pliego, P. (2017). Phylogeny and taxonomy of the Socorro parakeet (Psittacara holochlorus brevipes): Recent speciation with minor morphological differentiation. Journal of Ornithology, 158(4), 965-978. doi:10.1007/s10336-017-1465-4

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
Endemic birds of Mexico Natural history of the Revillagigedo Islands Socorro parakeet Socorro parakeet Socorro parakeet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{parrot-stub