The Venezuelan parakeet (''Pyrrhura emma'') or Emma's conure 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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Venezuela.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Venezuelan parakeet's taxonomy is unsettled. At one time it was considered a subspecies of what is now the

white-eared parakeet The white-eared parakeet or maroon-faced parakeet (''Pyrrhura leucotis'') is a Vulnerable species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is endemic to Brazil. Taxonomy and systematics The w ...

(''P. leucotis''). 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 ...

(IOC) and

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) treat it as a full species. The IOC considers it to be

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 ...

but HBW assigns it two subspecies, ''P. e. emma'' and ''P. e. auricularis''. The South American Classification Committee of 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 ...

consider it to be a subspecies of the

painted parakeet The painted parakeet (''Pyrrhura picta''), known as the painted conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana ...

(''P. picta'').HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022Remsen, 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, 2023Clements, 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 This article follows the IOC treatment.

Description

The Venezuelan parakeet is long. The sexes are the same. Adults have a blue crown, a plum-red face, a gray-brown nape, and whitish ear

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 ...

. Their upperparts are mostly green with a red-brown rump. Their chin, throat, and the sides of their neck are gray-olive with pale scaling. The center of their belly is red-brown and the rest of their underparts are green. Their wing is mostly green with a red-brown shoulder and blue

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 ...

. Their tail is red-brown. Their bill is dusky and their eyes orange to yellow with bare dark gray skin surrounding them. Immatures are similar to adults.Collar, N., J. del Hoyo, P. F. D. Boesman, G. M. Kirwan, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Painted Parakeet (''Pyrrhura picta''), 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.paipar1.01 retrieved March 9, 2023

Distribution and habitat

The Venezuelan parakeet is found in two separate areas of the

Venezuelan Coastal Range The Venezuelan Coastal Range ( or ), also known as Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain System (), is a mountain range system and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, that runs along the central and eastern portions of Venezuela's northern coa ...

. One population is found between

Yaracuy Yaracuy (, ;) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. Yaracuy is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is bordered by Falcón State, Falcón in the north, in the west by Lara State, Lara, in the south by Portug ...

and Miranda and the other from

Anzoátegui Anzoátegui State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, located in the northeastern region of the country. Anzoátegui is well known for its beaches that attract many visitors. Its coast consists of a single beach approx ...

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

and northern

Monagas Monagas State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Monagas State covers a total surface area of and, as of the 2011 census, had a population of 905,443. Monagas State is surrounded by Sucre State in the north, Anzoátegui State in the ...

. It inhabits the interior and edges of humid and wet forest and also clearings with scattered trees. In elevation it primarily ranges between but is found down to sea level in Sucre.

Behavior

Movement

The Venezuelan parakeet is not known to have any pattern of movement.

Feeding

The Venezuelan parakeet's foraging behavior and diet are not well known. It usually travels in flocks of up to about 30 individuals, and has been recorded feeding on fruits, flowers, and nectar.

Breeding

The Venezuelan parakeet's breeding season is thought to be May to July but nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Vocalization

The Venezuelan parakeet's call is "a loud, harsh “kik-kik-kik-kik” ". It also makes a "“wa-Ke-Ke-Ke-ka” in anger or distress 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 ...

has assessed the Venezuelan parakeet as being of Least Concern. It has a large range but its population size is not known and is thought to be decreasing. "Trapping for trade and land-use changes may be driving a decline in the population, although neither of these threats are regarded as serious for this species at present." It is considered fairly common and occurs in several national parks and other preserves.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2996202 Venezuelan parakeet Venezuelan parakeet Birds of the Venezuelan Coastal Range Venezuelan parakeet Endemic birds of Venezuela