The maroon-fronted parrot (''Rhynchopsitta terrisi'') is a large,

macaw Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild. Biology Of the many diffe ...

-like

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 ...

. It is dark green with a dark red shoulder and a maroon forehead and eye-stripe. Its underside of the wings and tail appear to be black when it is in flight. It makes a high, rolling ''cr-a ak'' sound. Groups sound similar to the

acorn woodpecker The acorn woodpecker (''Melanerpes formicivorus'') is a medium-sized woodpecker, long, with an average weight of . Taxonomy The acorn woodpecker was formally described in 1827 by the English naturalist William John Swainson under the binomi ...

if they are heard from a distance. The species is endemic to northeastern

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, where only about 2500–3000 birds survive in the wild.

Taxonomy

''R. terrisi'' is one of two extant and one extinct species of genus ''Rhynchopsitta'' of thick-billed parrots.

Description

The maroon-fronted parrot is a large mostly green parrot which measures in length and weighs .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . The adults have a dark maroon brow which extends over the rim of bare yellow skin that surrounds the eyes. They have a brighter red at the bend of the wing. The tail is long and pointed. The underside of the wings are blackish. The juvenile has a pale beak, whitish eye-rings, and lack the dark maroon stripe over each eye.BirdLife Species Factsheet.
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Distribution and habitat

Maroon-fronted parrots live in mature

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

, mixed

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ex ...

, and pine-oak forests from 2000 to 3500 meters. This bird is endemic to the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With ...

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

and

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

Behaviour

They nest in limestone cliffs near moving water in large

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

. Breeding coincides with the fruition of pines, which is its main food source. They lay one to three eggs in July and the juveniles fledge around November. They migrate over short distances seasonally.

Conservation

This bird is considered

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

due to

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

and

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. Th
ITESM Campus Monterrey
carry out environmental education programs and science research in

Cumbres de Monterrey National Park The Cumbres de Monterrey ( es, Parque Nacional Cumbres de Monterrey, ; English: "Summits of Monterrey") is a national park of Mexico located in the northern portion of the Sierra Madre Oriental in the states of Nuevo León and Coahuila, near the c ...

and

Sierra de Arteaga Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" and "saw", from Latin ''serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves, a mountain range ...

for the conservation of maroon-fronted parrots.

References

* Howell, Steven N. G. & Webb, Sophie (1995): ''A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America''. Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York.

External links

Maroon-fronted parrot - Photos by Rene Valdes
VIREO ttp://vireo.acnatsci.org/species_image.php?species=Rhynchopsitta+terrisi Photo-High Res {{Taxonbar, from=Q1266761 maroon-fronted parrot Endemic birds of Northeastern Mexico Birds of the Sierra Madre Oriental maroon-fronted parrot Endangered animals