The austral parakeet, austral conure, cachaña, rawilma or emerald parakeet (''Enicognathus ferrugineus'') is a species of bird in subfamily

Arinae The neotropical parrots or New World parrots comprise about 150 species in 32 genera found throughout South America, South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean islands and the southern United States. Among them are some of the most familia ...

of the family

Psittacidae The Family (biology), family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the 12 species of subfamily Psittacinae (the Afrotropics, Afrotropical parrots) and 167 of subfamily Arinae (the New World or ...

, the African and New World parrots. It is found in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and possibly the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. 30 January 2023. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved January 30, 2023

Taxonomy

The austral parakeet shares genus ''Enicognathus'' with the slender-billed parakeet (''S. leptorhynchus''). Previously it was the sole member of genus ''Microsittace''. It has two subspecies, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

''E. f. ferrugineus'' (

Müller Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

, 1776) and ''E. f. minor'' ( Chapman, 1919).

Description

The austral parakeet is long; a specimen of a male ''E. f. minor'' weighed . The sexes are the same. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dull reddish forehead and lores in an otherwise yellow-green face. Their upperparts are dull green. Their underparts are yellowish green with a dull reddish patch on the belly; dark feather edges give a scaly appearance. Their tail is also dull reddish; their wings are mostly green with bluish green

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

. Immature birds are similar but the red of the face and belly are even duller. Subspecies ''E. f. minor'' is smaller and darker than the nominate.Collar, N., E. de Juana, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Austral Parakeet (''Enicognathus ferrugineus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.auspar1.01 retrieved March 14, 2023

Distribution and habitat

The austral parakeet is the southernmost of all parrots. Subspecies ''E. f. minor'' is found in southern Chile from the O'Higgins Region south to Aysén and in adjoining southwestern Argentina from

Neuquén Province Neuquén () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west. It also me ...

to northwestern Santa Cruz. The nominate subspecies is found from ''minor''s southern limit almost to Cape Horn. Undocumented sight records in the Falkland Islands lead the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...

to class it as hypothetical there. The austral parakeet primarily inhabits southern beech (''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

'') forest and woodlands dominated by oaks (''

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

'') and ''

Drimys andina ''Drimys andina'' is a species of flowering plant in family Winteraceae. It is native to Chile and Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making ...

''. It also occurs in nearby semi-open areas, ranchlands, and occasionally in cultivated areas. It is mostly found near sea level in the far south but ranges as high as in the north.

Behavior

Movement

The austral parakeet is a year-round resident in the southern part of its range. In the north it makes elevational movements that appear to not be strictly seasonal but more in response to weather and food availability.

Feeding

The austral parakeet often forages in flocks that can have as many as 100 individuals and may include other bird species as well. Its diet includes seeds of grasses, bamboo, and the "Chilean pine" ''

Araucaria araucana ''Araucaria araucana'', commonly called the monkey puzzle tree, monkey tail tree, pewen, pehuen pine or piñonero, is an evergreen tree belonging to the family Araucariaceae and growing to a trunk diameter of and a height of . It is native to ...

'', and also fruits, berries, acorns, and leaf buds. In the northernmost part of its Argentinian range it has been observed feeding on insect larvae.

Breeding

The austral parakeet's breeding season is not fully defined but includes December. It usually nests in tree cavities; those in large dead oaks seem to be favored. It has also been reported making a twig nest in bamboo. The clutch size is four to eight eggs; in captivity the incubation period is about 26 days.

Vocalization

The austral parakeet's most common call is "a nasal grating note, typically repeated in long series, e.g. “grrreh-grrreh-grrreh...”." It often mixes in a "more drawn-out higher-pitched “kreeh” ."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the austral parakeet as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered common throughout its range and much of its habitat is protected in national parks.

References

External links

Austral parakeet photo gallery
VIREO
Photo-High ResArticle
pbase.com–"Patagonian Birds" {{Taxonbar, from=Q764213 austral parakeet Birds of Chile Birds of Patagonia Birds of Tierra del Fuego austral parakeet Parakeets