The blue-crowned parakeet, blue-crowned conure, or sharp-tailed conure (''Thectocercus acuticaudatus'') is a small green Neotropical parrot with a blue head and pale beak native to large parts of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, from eastern

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

to Curacao in the southern Caribbean, and to the northern region of

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 ...

. They inhabit savanna-like habitats, woodland and forest margins, but avoid dense humid forest such as the

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 ...

. This species is officially called a

parakeet A parakeet is any one of many small- to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally has long tail feathers. Etymology and naming The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French word ''perroquet'', which is reflect ...

by the AOU and by

birder Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, ...

s, though usually called

conure Conures are a diverse, loosely defined group of small to medium-sized parrots. They belong to several genus, genera within a long-tailed group of the New World parrot subfamily Arinae. Most conures belong to the tribe Arini (tribe), Arini, though ...

s in

aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping birds (class '' Aves'') in captivity in controlled conditions, normally within the confines of a ...

Taxonomy

While ''T. acuticaudatus'' is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Thectocercus'', this species has five subspecies: *''Thectocercus acuticaudatus'' (Vieillot 1818) **''Thectocercus acuticaudatus acuticaudatus'' (Vieillot 1818) **''Thectocercus acuticaudatus haemorrhous'' (Spix 1824) **''Thectocercus acuticaudatus koenigi'' (Arndt 1995) **''Thectocercus acuticaudatus neoxenus'' (Cory 1909) **''Thectocercus acuticaudatus neumanni'' (Blake and Traylor 1947) Previously, this species was part of the genus ''

Aratinga ''Aratinga'' is a genus of South American conures. Most are predominantly green, although a few are predominantly yellow or orange. They are social and commonly seen in groups in the wild. In Brazil, the popular name of several species usually i ...

'', but that genus was split in four distinct genera once various

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

studies showed that the genus, as traditionally defined, was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

.Remsen, Jr., J.V.; Schirtzinger, E.E.; Ferraroni, Anna; Silveira, Luís Fábio; & Wright, Timothy F. (24 April 2013). ''DNA-sequence data require revision of the parrot genus Aratinga (Aves: Psittacidae)''.

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...

3641(3): 296–300. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3641.3.9

Description

The blue-crowned parakeet is a medium-sized bird measuring approximately in length and weighing between . Blue-crowns are born with red coloring around the head, but blue-crowns are predominantly green, with dull blue coloring on the forehead, crown, cheeks, and ears in 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 ...

, but less blue in other

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. It has a ring of white featherless skin around each eye, though this is bright orange-yellow in wild ''T. acuticaudata neumanni''.Ardeola
Photo of wild ''T. acuticaudata neumanni''.
/ref> The breast feathers may also be tinged with blue, though they are more commonly green to yellow-green. Closed wing coloring matches that of the body while extended wings show blue-brown, becoming chestnut on the outer flight feathers. The tail feathers are green on top, maroon to red-brown on the underside, iridescing to bright orange and scarlet under full-spectrum light. Legs are pink-brown with grey-brown claws. The upper mandible is horn-colored, tapering to a needle-sharp, grey-black tip. In the southern and western nominate and subspecies ''neumanni'', the lower mandible is horn-colored in juveniles, fading to grey-black by the bird's second year. The remaining eastern, central and northern subspecies retain the horn-colored lower mandible throughout adulthood.

Breeding

The blue-crowned parakeet's

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...

is a hole in a tree. The eggs are white and there are usually three to four in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for 26 days, and the chicks

fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...

from the nest about 52 days after hatching.

Aviculture

Blue-crowned parakeets are generally called blue-crowned conures in

. They are social birds and are relatively good talkers compared to other conures. They have become quite popular as pets, with a reputation as one of the "easier" parrots to care for. However, they are also intelligent, high-energy birds that require a lot of attention and a cage with ample room and toys. They can also be quite loud at times. Consequently, they are more appropriate companions for serious bird enthusiasts rather than the casual birdkeeper.

In fiction

* A talking blue-crowned conure was the titular star of the family movie '' Paulie''. In the film, Paulie, the main character was played by 14 different birds.

References

External links

* https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&avibaseid=4BE8E5F1B316CC94 {{Taxonbar, from=Q27074980, from2=Q913514, from3=Q28107147

Blue-crowned Parakeet The blue-crowned parakeet, blue-crowned conure, or sharp-tailed conure (''Thectocercus acuticaudatus'') is a small green Neotropical parrot with a blue head and pale beak native to large parts of South America, from eastern Colombia to Curacao in ...

Parrots of South America Birds of Argentina Birds of the Gran Chaco Birds of Bolivia Birds of Brazil Birds of Colombia Birds of Venezuela Birds of the Caatinga Birds of the Pantanal Birds of Paraguay

blue-crowned parakeet The blue-crowned parakeet, blue-crowned conure, or sharp-tailed conure (''Thectocercus acuticaudatus'') is a small green Neotropical parrot with a blue head and pale beak native to large parts of South America, from eastern Colombia to Curacao in ...

Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN