Yellow-faced Parrot
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:''The
yellow-fronted parrot The yellow-fronted parrot (''Poicephalus flavifrons'') is a parrot endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands. It is a mostly green with a yellow head. Relatively little is known about this bird. Taxonomy German naturalist Eduard Rüppell first descr ...
(Poicephalus flavifrons) from Africa is occasionally called "yellow-faced parrot".'' The yellow-faced parrot (''Alipiopsitta xanthops''), formerly also known as the yellow-faced amazon, is the only species of the
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 ...
''Alipiopsitta''. It is a
Neotropical parrot The neotropical parrots or New World parrots comprise about 150 species in 32 genera found throughout South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean islands and the southern United States. Among them are some of the most familiar and iconic pa ...
(tribe Arini), and was classified in the genus ''
Amazona Amazon parrots are parrots in the genus ''Amazona''. They are medium-sized, short-tailed parrots native to the Americas, with their range extending from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean. ''Amazona'' is one of the 92 genera of parrots t ...
'' for many years. It is a predominantly green and yellow-plumaged bird with a yellow head. It is a semi-nomadic species found in the
cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...
region of
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 ...
and adjacent
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
. As the yellow-faced parrot has disappeared from parts of its former range due to
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
and generally occurs in low densities, it was considered vulnerable by 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 ...
, but it remains locally fairly common, occurs in several protected areas and can survive in fragmented habitats, leading to its downlisting to
near-threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qu ...
.


Taxonomy

The German naturalist
Johann Baptist von Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German natural history, biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. ...
first described the species in 1824 as ''Psittacus xanthops''. Its species name is derived from 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 ...
''xanthos'' "yellow", and ''ops'' "face". For many years, it was placed within the genus ''
Amazona Amazon parrots are parrots in the genus ''Amazona''. They are medium-sized, short-tailed parrots native to the Americas, with their range extending from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean. ''Amazona'' is one of the 92 genera of parrots t ...
'', although Alípio de Miranda Ribeiro proposed the new genus ''Salvatoria'' in 1920 due to differences in the bill and plumage. A 1995 study showed its distinctness genetically, followed up by more data which showed it to be much more closely related to the
short-tailed parrot The short-tailed parrot (''Graydidascalus brachyurus'') 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, French Guiana, and Peru.Remsen, J. V., Jr., ...
(''Graydidascalus brachyurus'') and to the members of the genus ''
Pionus ''Pionus'' is a genus of medium-sized parrots native to Mexico, and Central and South America. Characteristic of the genus are the chunky body, bare eye ring (which can vary in color), and short square tail. They are superficially similar to Am ...
''.Russello, M.A. & Amato, G (2004) A molecular phylogeny of Amazona: implications for Neotropical parrot biogeography, taxonomy, and conservation. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 30: 421-437. Following this discovery, it was briefly placed in the genus ''Salvatoria'' again, until this name was found to be pre-occupied by a group of polychaete worms from the superfamily Nereidoidea, thus leading to the transferral of the yellow-faced parrot to the new genus ''Alipiopsitta''.Caparroz, R., & Pacheco, J.F. (2006). ''A homonymy in Psittacidae: new name for Salvatoria Miranda-Ribeiro.'' Rev. Brasileira de Ornitologia 14: 174–175.


Description

Measuring about 27 cm (11 in) in length, the yellow-faced parrot has a stocky body and short tail.BirdLife International (2010)
Species factsheet: Alipiopsitta xanthops.
' Accessed 6 December 2010.
It is a predominantly green and yellow-plumaged bird that in adults has a yellow crown, lores, cheeks and auriculars. The rest of the head, upperparts and chest are green with some yellowish-green scalloping. The sides of the belly are often mottled orange and yellow, and the belly is often yellow. However, there are significant variations in the amount of yellow to the underparts, and some show virtually none.van Perlo, B. (2009). ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil.'' Oxford University Press. The wings are predominantly green, occasionally with some yellow spots. There is blue edging on the 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 ...
. The central feathers of the short tail are green, while the lateral ones are more yellow-green and have orange-red bases. The bill is yellowish-horn with a dark culmen, the cere is pinkish, and the iris is yellow. The legs are light grey. There is no
sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
; the male and female are alike in plumage and size. Immatures have less yellow to the head.


Distribution and habitat

The majority of its range is in central and eastern Brazil, where found from
Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...
and
Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any coas ...
to
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
and
Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...
. It inhabits the
cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...
on the plateau of Brazil, as well as the dryer
Caatinga Caatinga () is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" comes from the Tupi word '' ka'atinga'', meaning "white forest" or "white vegetat ...
scrubland. There are two records from Beni in northeastern Bolivia. Despite occasionally being listed for
Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
, evidence supporting its presence in this country is lacking. Within its range it appears to be semi-nomadic. Much of its habitat is being converted to agricultural land and the populations are declining.


Behaviour

The yellow-faced parrot forages for and eats the fruit and seeds of trees including ''
Anacardium ''Anacardium'', the cashews, are a genus of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, native to tropical regions of the Americas. The best known species is ''Anacardium occidentale,'' which is commercially cultivated for its cashew nuts and c ...
'' species, '' Salacia crassifolia'' and ''
Astronium fraxinifolium ''Astronium fraxinifolium'' is a timber tree, which is native to Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, and Cerrado vegetation in Brazil. Common names include kingwood, locustwood, tigerwood, and zebrawood. It is known in Portuguese as Go ...
''. Flocks have also been recorded raiding crops of
mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...
and unripe
guava Guava ( ), also known as the 'guava-pear', is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava '' Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), nativ ...
trees. Termites are another diet item. Until recently, comparatively little was known of its habits. It has been studied in
Emas National Park The Emas National Park (, literally meaning " Rhea National Park") is a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. Description The National Park is located between the states of Goià ...
in Brazil. Its breeding season there is May to October. Nests are hollows in
termite mound Mound-building termites are a group of termite species that live in mounds which are made of a combination of soil, termite saliva and dung. These termites live in Africa, Australia and South America. The mounds sometimes have a diameter of ...
s. The eggs are incubated for 19–22 days, while the young take up to 45 days to leave the nest. Like most species of
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, the yellow-faced parrot is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (
CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...
) with its placement on the
Appendix II CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...
list.


References

*Hoppe, D., 2007: Ribeiropapagei – ein neuer Name für die Gelbbauchamazone. Gefiederte Welt, Vol. 131, pp. 173–176 + 210–213.


External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1269610 yellow-faced parrot Birds of the Cerrado Birds of Bolivia Birds of Brazil yellow-faced parrot Near threatened animals Near threatened biota of South America yellow-faced parrot