Deville's Parakeet

Taxobox
name = Deville's Parakeet


status = NR
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Psittaciformes
familia = Psittacidae
genus = "Pyrrhura"
species = "P. lucianii"
binomial = "Pyrrhura lucianii"
binomial_authority = Deville, 1851
synonyms ="Pyrrhura picta lucianii"

The Deville's Parakeet ("Pyrrhura lucianii"), also known as the Deville's Conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is restricted to the Brazilian state of Amazonas south of the Solimões river.

Description

Total length ca. 22 cm (8½ in). As other members of the "Pyrrhura picta" complex, it is a long-tailed mainly green parakeet with a dark red belly, rump and tail-tip (tail all dark red from below), pale grey scaling to the chest, a whitish or dull buff patch on the auriculars and bluish remiges. The cheeks and crown are dark dusky-maroon (often appears almost blackish). Unlike other members of the "P. picta" complex, it lacks any pure red or blue to the head ("but see Taxonomy"). The legs are dark greyish.

Habitat and behavior

It occurs in tropical humid lowland forest and adjacent habitats. It is social and typically seen in pairs or groups. It feeds on fruits, seeds and flowers. The nest is placed in a tree cavity. It is likely to be fairly common within its range, but generally very poorly known, as this remote region rarely is visited by ornithologists.

Taxonomy

It has typically been considered a subspecies of "Pyrrhura picta". As with most other taxa in the "P. picta" complex, Joseph (2002) recommended that "lucianii" should be recognized as a monotypic species, "P. lucianii". Most authorities, notably SACC, did not recognize the splitting of the "P. picta" complex, and continue to regard "lucianii" as only a subspecies. Ribas "et al." (2006) did not include "lucianii" in their study, but did find that the "P. picta" (sensu structo) was closer to some members of the "P. leucotis" complex than to the various other taxa found mainly south of the Amazon river that traditionally are considered a subspecies of it. Based on their findings, Ribas "et al." recommended that the west Amazonian taxa ("roseifrons" and "peruviana") and the east Amazonian taxa ("amazonum" and "snethlageae") should be considered two separate species. Based on biogeography, it therefore become unlike that "lucianii" is a subspecies of "P. picta", but the possibility that it is better regarded as conspecific with either "P. amazonum" or "P. roseifrons" cannot be discounted on basis of current knowledge. It should be noted that "lucianii" was described before both "amazonum" and "roseifrons", meaning that they, if one of these scenarios was found to be correct, would become subspecies of "lucianii" (i.e. "P. lucianii amazonum" or "P. lucianii roseifrons").

Another problem relates to the populastion of the "P. picta" complex from far north-eastern Peru. These individuals with red to the forecrown and ocular region have often (e.g. Juniper, 1998) been regarded as typical of "P. lucianii". Joseph (2002) found that this was incorrect, with true "P. lucianii" being restricted to Brazil and lacking any pure red to the head. The taxonomic position of the population in far north-eastern Peru, labelled as "group 6" by Joseph, therefore remain unclear, it having been speculated that it could be an undescribed species, an undescribed subspecies of either "P. roseifrons" or "P. lucianii", a hybrid between the "P. roseifrons" and "P. lucianii" (which, if found to be true, could indicate that "P. lucianii" and "P. roseifrons" are better considered conspecific), or a hybrid between the two currently recognized subspecies of the "P. roseifrons".

References

* Joseph, L. (2002). "Geographic variation, taxonomy and distribution of some Amazonian Pyrrhura parakeets." Ornitologia Neotrpical 13(4): 337-363.
* Juniper, T., and M. Parr (1998). "A Guide to the Parrots of the World". Pica Press, East Sussex. ISBN 1-873403-40-2
* 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 6 Sep. 2007. [http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html "A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithologists' Union."]
* Ribas, C. C., L. Joseph, C. Y. Miyaki (2006). "Molecular sytematics and patterns of diversification in "Pyrrhura" (Psittacidae), with special reference to the "picta-leucotis" complex." Auk 123(3): 660-680.