The Pacific parakeet (''Psittacara strenuus''), known as Pacific conure or Nicaraguan green conure 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 ...
, 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 southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Pacific parakeet was for a time placed in 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 from about 2013 has been in its present genus ''Psittacara''.
[R. Terry Chesser, Kevin J. Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., Douglas F. Stotz, and Kevin Winker. "Fifty-ninth supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s ''Check-list of North American Birds''". ''The Auk'' 2019, vol. 136:1-23 retrieved April 5, 2023][ Its taxonomy is otherwise unsettled. The ]International Ornithological Committee
The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...
, the American Ornithological Society
The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...
, and the Clements taxonomy
''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world.
The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...
treat it as a full, 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 ...
, species.[Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.aou.org/taxa][Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022] 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 ...
's ''Handbook of the Birds of the World
The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...
'' (HBW) considers it to be a subspecies of the green parakeet
The green parakeet (''Psittacara holochlorus''), green conure, or Mexican green conure is a New World parrot. As defined by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), it is native to Mexico and southern Texas in the Rio Grande Valley.
Ta ...
(''P. holochlorus'').[
left, Pacific parakeet in flight
]
Description
The Pacific parakeet is about long. The sexes are alike. Adults are generally olive green that is slightly yellowish on the underparts; some have red speckles on their neck. The undersides of their flight feathers and tail are olive-yellow. Their iris is orange-red surrounded by bare pale beige skin, their bill horn colored, and their legs and feet brownish.[Collar, N., G. M. Kirwan, C. J. Sharpe, P. F. D. Boesman, and H. F. Greeney (2020). Pacific Parakeet (''Psittacara strenuus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.pacpar1.01 retrieved April 6, 2023]
Distribution and habitat
The Pacific parakeet is found on the Pacific slope from southern Mexico's Oaxaca
Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
state south through Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras into central Nicaragua. It inhabits a variety of woodland landscapes including deciduous, semi-deciduous
Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical wood ...
, and evergreen; gallery forest
A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...
; swamp forest; and arid scrublands. It also occurs in upland pine-oak forest and in urban parks and gardens. In elevation it ranges from sea level to .[
]
Behavior
Parakeets in flight
Movement
The Pacific parakeet is non-migratory but makes local movements in response to food availability.[
]
Feeding
The Pacific parakeet's diet has not been fully documented but is known to include seed and fruits. It can be a crop pest. Flocks may exceed 100 individuals.[
]
Breeding
The Pacific parakeet's breeding biology is not well known. It has been documented nesting in rock crevices and cavities in earthen banks; it probably also nests in cavities in trees and termitaria
Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...
. Its breeding season appears to include June to September.[
]
Vocalization
The Pacific parakeet's flight call is rendered as "''kreh!-kreh!-kreh!-kreh!...''". Its perched call is lower pitched, "a scratchy ''kreeh-kreeh-kreeh-kreei-kreei''".[
]
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 ...
follows HBW taxonomy and so includes the Pacific parakeet in its assessment of the green parakeet as being of Least Concern. It has estimated that the combined population numbers about 200,000 mature individuals and is decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q892008
Parakeets
Psittacara
Birds of Nicaragua
Birds described in 1915
Taxa named by Robert Ridgway