The caica parrot (''Pyrilia caica'') 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

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 ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The caica parrot and the other six members of genus ''Pyrilia'' were until the early 21st century included in genus ''Pionopsitta'' with the pileated parrot (''P. pileata'').Tavares, E.S., Baker, A.J., Pereira, S.L. and Miyaki, C.Y. (2006). Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of Neotropical parrots (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae: Arini) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Syst. Biol. 55(3): 454–470Remsen, 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. Version 30 January 2023. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 30, 2023 The caica parrot is

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 ...

Description

The caica parrot is long and weighs . Adults have a brownish black head with bare gray skin around the eye. They have a

fulvous Fulvous is a colour, sometimes described as dull orange, brownish-yellow or tawny; it can also be likened to a variation of buff, beige or butterscotch. As an adjective it is used in the names of many species of birds, and occasionally other ...

or golden collar on their hindneck; dark feather edges give it a scaly appearance. Their throat and upper breast are olive-brown and the rest of their body is green. Their primary

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 ...

are dull blue, their

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 ...

are blackish, and their tail feathers have dull blue tips. Immature birds have mostly green heads with a duller collar.Collar, N., P. F. D. Boesman, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Caica Parrot (''Pyrilia caica''), 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.caipar2.01 retrieved February 24, 2023

Distribution and habitat

The caica parrot is found from eastern Venezuela through

the Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch, and French Guiana respectiv ...

into Brazil's

Amapá Amapá (; ) is one of the 26 federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil. It is in the North Region, Brazil, North Region of Brazil. It is Federative units of Brazil#List, the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area ...

state and south in Brazil to the Amazon River. It occurs almost entirely in mature '' terra firme'' forest, generally shunning flooded and secondary forests. In elevation it ranges up to .

Behavior

Movement

The caica parrot's movements, if any, are not known.

Feeding

Little is known about the caica parrot's foraging behavior or diet. It has been observed feeding on seeds and fruits.

Breeding

The caica parrot breeds between November and January in French Guiana; data are lacking for its breeding season elsewhere. The single known nest was in a tree cavity about above the ground.

Vocalization

The caica parrot's flight call is described as "a peculiarly nasal, horn-like call, either a single "kyow", a double-noted "kra ... kyow" or triple-noted "kra.kree ... kyow"." It also "utters a wider variety of short nasal yelps and squeaking notes" when perched.

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 ...

originally assessed the caica parrot as being of Least Concern, then in 2012 as Near Threatened, and then in 2021 again as of Least Concern. It has a fairly large range and an estimated population of 250,000 mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing. "The primary threat to this species is accelerating deforestation in its range, as land is cleared for cattle ranching and soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network." It is considered common in French Guiana but uncommon to scarce elsewhere; it does occur in "several large, strict protected areas".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1269680 caica parrot Birds of the Guiana Shield Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of South America caica parrot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot