''Pyrrhura'' (Greek Red/Fire Tail) is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

s in the Arini tribe. They occur in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

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 ...

and southern

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

(

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

). Most are restricted to humid forest and adjacent habitats, but one species, the blaze-winged parakeet, prefers

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

or gallery woodland, and another, the Pfrimer's parakeet, is restricted to dry regions. Some species are highly

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, inv ...

. Depending on the species, the total length range from . All have long, pointed tails, a mainly green

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

, and a relatively narrow, dark greyish to white eye-ring. Many have scaly or barred chest-patterns and a whitish, pale grey, buff or reddish ear-patch. They typically move around in small, noisy flocks, flying swiftly at or below

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

level. Once settled in a tree they tend to be silent (especially if aware of danger) and difficult to spot. They nest in a tree-crevice. Some species are popular 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 ...

, where they are commonly referred to as

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 instead of parakeets.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Pyrrhura'' was introduced in 1856 by the French naturalist

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...

. Bonaparte did not specify a

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

but this was designated in 1891 by the Italian zoologist

Tommaso Salvadori Count Adelardo Tommaso Salvadori Paleotti (30 September 1835 – 9 October 1923) was an Italian zoologist and ornithologist. Biography Salvadori was born in Porto San Giorgio, son of Count Luigi Salvadori and Ethelyn Welby, who was English. His ...

as ''Psittacus vittatus'' Shaw, 1811, which has been replaced by ''Psittacus frontalis'' Vieillot, 1818, the maroon-bellied parakeet. The genus name is from the specific epithet of ''Microsittace pyrrhura'' Bonaparte, 1854 now ''Pyrrhura molinae'' Massena & Souancé, 1854, the green-cheeked parakeet. The name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''purrhos'' meaning "flame-coloured" or "red" with ''-ouros'' meaning "tail". The

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of some groups, in particular the '' Pyrrhura picta'' and the '' P. leucotis'' complexes, has changed significantly in recent years. In late 2008 it was proposed that the members of the ''P. picta'' complex from north-eastern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

(the so-called "group 6" in Joseph, 2002) should be considered a new species, the Amazon red-fronted parakeet, ''P. parvifrons''. This has yet to receive widespread recognition (e.g., by SACC), and consequently it is not included in the below list.

Species

The genus contains 24 species: * Ochre-marked parakeet, ''Pyrrhura cruentata''. * Maroon-bellied parakeet, ''Pyrrhura frontalis''. * Blaze-winged parakeet, ''Pyrrhura devillei'' – traditionally a subspecies of ''P. frontalis''. * Crimson-bellied parakeet, ''Pyrrhura perlata'' – formerly ''P. rhodogaster''. * Pearly parakeet, ''Pyrrhura lepida'' – formerly ''P. perlata''. * Green-cheeked parakeet, ''Pyrrhura molinae''. * Painted parakeet, ''Pyrrhura picta''. *

Sinú parakeet The Sinú parakeet (''Pyrrhura subandina'') is a bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. BirdLife International's ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' recognizes it as a full species. The Internati ...

, ''Pyrrhura subandina'' – possibly

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

. ** Todd's (Perijá) parakeet, ''Pyrrhura (picta) caeruleiceps''. ** Azuero parakeet, ''Pyrrhura (picta) eisenmanni''. * Venezuelan parakeet, ''Pyrrhura emma'' – formerly considered a subspecies of ''P. leucotis''. * Santarém (Hellmayr's) parakeet, ''Pyrrhura amazonum'' – traditionally a subspecies of ''P. picta''. * Madeira parakeet, ''Pyrrhura snethlageae'' * Bonaparte's (Deville's) parakeet, ''Pyrrhura lucianii'' – traditionally a subspecies of ''P. picta''. * Rose-fronted parakeet, ''Pyrrhura roseifrons'' – traditionally a subspecies of ''P. picta''. ** Wavy-breasted parakeet, ''Pyrrhura (roseifrons) peruviana''. * White-eared (maroon-faced) parakeet, ''Pyrrhura leucotis''. * Grey-breasted parakeet, ''Pyrrhura griseipectus''. * Pfrimer's parakeet, ''Pyrrhura pfrimeri'' – traditionally a subspecies of ''P. leucotis''. * Fiery-shouldered parakeet, ''Pyrrhura egregia''. * Santa Marta parakeet, ''Pyrrhura viridicata''. *

Maroon-tailed parakeet The maroon-tailed parakeet (''Pyrrhura melanura'') is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Taxonomy and systematics T ...

, ''Pyrrhura melanura''. * El Oro parakeet, ''Pyrrhura orcesi''. * Black-capped (rock) parakeet, ''Pyrrhura rupicola''. * White-necked parakeet, ''Pyrrhura albipectus''. * Flame-winged (brown-breasted) parakeet, ''Pyrrhura calliptera''. * Red-eared parakeet, ''Pyrrhura hoematotis''. * Rose-headed (rose-crowned) parakeet, ''Pyrrhura rhodocephala''. * Sulphur-winged parakeet, ''Pyrrhura hoffmanni''.

Species photographs

File:Pyrrhura cruentata -pet on a pole -2c.jpg, Blue-throated parakeet (''Pyrrhura cruentata'') File:Maroon-bellied Conure (Pyrrhura frontalis) -on stump.jpg, Maroon-bellied parakeet
(''Pyrrhura frontalis'') File:Two Green-Cheeked Conures.jpeg, Green-cheeked parakeet
(''Pyrrhura molinae'') File:Pyrrhura perlata -pet-01.jpg, Crimson-bellied parakeet
(''Pyrrhura perlata'') File:Pyrrhura lepida -pet-8.jpg, Pearly parakeet
(''Pyrrhura lepida'') File:Rose-crowned Parakeet.jpg, Rose-crowned parakeet
(''Pyrrhura hoematotis'') File:Pyrrhura hoffmanni -Costa Rica-4-4c.jpg, Sulphur-winged parakeet
(''Pyrrhura hoffmanni'') File:Pyrrhura rupicola -captive-6a.jpg, Black-capped parakeet
(''Pyrrhura rupicola'') File:Tiriba-de-testa-vermelha de lado.jpg, Domestic maroon-bellied parakeet
(''Pyrrhura frontalis'')

References

* Arndt, T. (2008). ''Anmerkungen zu einigen Pyrrhura-Formen mit der Beschreibung einer neuen Art und zweier neuer Unterarten.'' Papageien 8/2008. * Joseph, L. (2002). ''Geographic variation, taxonomy and distribution of some Amazonian Pyrrhura parakeets.'' Ornitologia Neotropical 13 (4): 337–363. * Juniper, T., and M. Parr (1998). ''A Guide to the Parrots of the World''. Pica Press, East Sussex. * Remsen, J. V., Jr., C. D. Cadena, A. Jaramillo, M. Nores, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, T. S. Schulenberg, F. G. Stiles, D. F. Stotz, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 28 Jun. 2007
''A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union.''
* Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino. (2006). ''Birds of Northern South America - An Identification Guide.''. Christopher Helm, London. * Ribas, C., L. Joseph, and C. Miyaki (2006). ''Molecular systematics and patterns of diversification in Pyrrhura (Psittacidae), with special reference to the picta-leucotis complex.'' Auk 123 (3): 660–680. {{Taxonbar, from=Q568111 Bird genera Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte