The buff-faced pygmy parrot (''Micropsitta pusio'') is a very small green

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 ...

found in

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest 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 ...

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the D ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

Taxonomy

The species was first described as ''Nasiterna pusio'' by English naturalist

Philip Lutley Sclater Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an England, English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological ...

in 1866. The genus name ''Micropsitta'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

μικρός ''mikros'' meaning small and ψιττακός ''psittakos'' for parrot. The specific name is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

''pūsiō'', which means "little boy". Four subspecies have been described, although their status has been questioned. The type subspecies, ''M. p. pusio'', occurs on the Bismarck Archipelago and southeastern New Guinea; birds of Fergusson Island in the D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago have blue-tinged throats and less distinct markings and are described as ''M. p. harterti''; birds of Misima and Tagula Islands in the Louisiade Archipelago are slightly larger and have more yellowish underparts and are described as subspecies ''M. p. stresemanni''; and those that range in western New Guinea from

Cenderawasih Bay Cenderawasih Bay ( id, Teluk Cenderawasih, "Bird of Paradise Bay"), also known as Sarera Bay ( id, Teluk Sarera) and formerly Geelvink Bay ( nl, Geelvinkbaai), is a large bay in northern Province of Papua, Central Papua and West Papua, New Gui ...

to the

Kumusi River The Kumusi River (also known as the Kamusi River) is a river located in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. Known for its width and its strength, the Kumusi has had a significant impact on the history of the Oro Province. It was a significant fac ...

have darker plumage overall and are named subspecies ''M. p. beccarii''.

Description

Little-studied as an individual species, it is known mainly for being the world's smallest parrot, at and . However, the average weight of six adults was surprisingly high at , being slightly higher than two other pygmy parrots, the Geelvink and yellow-capped, both of which, nonetheless, have slightly longer total lengths.''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses, 2nd Edition'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (2008), .Beehler, B. M., Pratt, T. K., Zimmerman, D. A., Bell, H. L., Finch, B. W., Diamond, J. M., & Coe, J. (1986). ''Birds of New Guinea (No. 9)''. Princeton: Princeton University Press. The male and female are similar in appearance; their plumage is mainly green with a yellowish tone on the underparts. The cheeks, face, and crown are buff (hence the common name). A dark blue patch is on the top of the head back to the occiput. Head markings are smaller in females, and facial colour is paler. The eyes are dark brown and the bill is grey, and legs are greyish with blue or pinkish tints. Immature birds lack the blue crown, replacing it with green, and the buff colour is less distinct.

Distribution and habitat

Buff-faced pygmy parrots are found across the northern lowlands of the island of New Guinea from the west to the southeastern tip up to an altitude around 800 m, as well as in the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

. They inhabit

in small groups up to six birds and are highly active, hopping around on tree trunks.

Conservation status

While its population size is unknown, the species occurs over a very wide range and is listed as least concern by the IUCN.

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q84619700 buff-faced pygmy parrot Birds of New Britain Birds of New Guinea buff-faced pygmy parrot buff-faced pygmy parrot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot