The bald parrot (''Pyrilia aurantiocephala'') or orange-headed parrot is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the east-central

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...

is tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. It is considered

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

(and consequently

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 ...

) due to the widespread

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

of the Amazon.

Taxonomy

This parrot was initially believed to be a juvenile of the

vulturine parrot The vulturine parrot (''Pyrilia vulturina'') is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is endemic to Brazil.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jarami ...

due to the orange coloration of its bald head as opposed to the black of the vulturine. However, when it was discovered that the individuals were sexually mature, they were described as a new species. In reality, juveniles of both species have feathered, greenish heads quite unlike those of the adults. It was formerly placed in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Pionopsitta'', which is now

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Discovery

In 1999, Brazilian researchers set out to the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

to find specimens of the small green parrot. Subsequently, many of the researchers found sexually mature orange-headed specimens, who did not flock with other birds, and instead created their own flock. Thus, Brazilian researchers declared the new parrot species to be ''Pyrilia aurantiocephala''. In the Eastern Amazon rainforest, the bald parrot was only recently discovered and was previously presumed to be the

. Prior to the discovery of the bald parrot, it was found these birds were sexually mature and had the potential to be a new species.

Distribution and habitat

Bald parrots can be found in the humid tropical lowlands spreading throughout the Lower River

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

and Upper River Tapajós and River Teles Pires, in central Brazil.

Conservation

The bald parrot flocks among other parrots, with a population size of 6,700; however, it is decreasing, as the bald parrot continues to be a rare sight for those who can catch a glimpse due to the impact of

in its native habitat. Although 6,700 refers to the estimated number of mature parrots present, an estimated 10,000 Bald Parrots equate to the total population of their species.

Description

The bald parrot is a medium-small, overall green parrot with a bald, brownish-orange head. As several other members of the genus ''

Pyrilia ''Pyrilia'' is a genus of parrots in the family (biology), family Psittacidae. It was recently split from the now-monotypic ''Pionopsitta'', and then briefly moved to ''Gypopsitta''. But as ''Pyrilia'' was published a few months before ''Gypopsi ...

'', it has red underwing

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

that barely are visible when perched, but highly conspicuous in flight. The bald parrot communicates with sounds that consist of a high pitched "skee-skee-skee" and a rolling slightly nasal of a "chow-chow-chow". Their diet includes flowers, seeds, fruits, and insects. This medium-sized bird is known for its bare skin and orange head. It has the complexion of intensely orange skin, a paler and more yellow color around the eye, black(ish) coloring around the neck, a mostly green lower neck, light yellow tint to the green wings, and tinged with blue on the lower belly. The unique coloring and baldness of this parrot's head give it its name.

References

Bald Parrot (Pionopsitta aurantiocephala)
arthurgrosset.com. Accessed 2008-06-27. {{Taxonbar, from=Q141801 bald parrot Birds of the Brazilian Amazon Birds of Southern Amazonia Endemic birds of Brazil Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of South America bald parrot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot