Psittacara

Psittacara is a genus of parakeets in the tribe Arini. Species of the genus are found in Central and South America, the Caribbean and one species reaching the southern United States. Until 2013, all the species were placed in the genus Aratinga. Many of the Psittacara species are kept in aviculture or as companion parrots, where they are commonly known as conures.

Psittacara
Red-masked parakeet (Psittacara erythrogenys), feral birds in a tree in California, United States
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Psittacidae
Tribe:	Arini
Genus:	Psittacara Vigors, 1825
Type species
Psittacus gujanensis[1] Gmelin, JF, 1788
Species
See text.

Taxonomy

The members of this genus were formerly placed in the genus Aratinga. Molecular phylogenetic studies had found that Aratinga was non-monophyletic so in order to create monophylectic genera James Van Remsen Jr. and collaborators proposed in 2013 that Aratinga should be split and a group of species moved to the resurrected genus Psittacara.^[2] The genus had been introduced in 1825 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors with the white-eyed parakeet as the type species.^[3][4]

Species

The genus contains 13 species including one which is now extinct:^[5]

Genus Psittacara – Vigors, 1825 – thirteen species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Green parakeet	Psittacara holochlorus (Sclater, PL, 1859) Two subspecies[6][7] P. h. brevipes (Lawrence, 1871) P. h. strenuus (Ridgway, 1915)	Mexico (Nuevo León and Tamaulipas south to Veracruz)	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC  [8]
Socorro parakeet	Psittacara brevipes (Lawrence, 1871)	Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico[9]	Size: Habitat: Diet:
Red-throated parakeet	Psittacara rubritorquis (Sclater, PL, 1887)	El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.[10]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Pacific parakeet	Psittacara strenuus (Ridgway, 1915)	southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.[6][8]	Size: Habitat: Diet:
Scarlet-fronted parakeet	Psittacara wagleri (GR Gray, 1845) Two subspecies[11] P. w. wagleri (G.R. Gray, 1845) P. w. transilis (J.L. Peters, 1927)	Colombia and Venezuela.[6]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	NT
Cordilleran parakeet	Psittacara frontatus (Cabanis, 1846) Two subspecies[6][12] P. f. frontatus (Cabanis, 1846) P. f. minor (Carriker, 1933)	Eucador's Loja Province and south through most of western Peru[6]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	NT
Mitred parakeet	Psittacara mitratus (Tschudi, 1844) Three subspecies P. m. chlorogenys (Arndt, 2006)[13] P. m. mitratus (Tschudi, 1844) P. m. tucumanus (Arndt, 2006)	Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru.[6]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Red-masked parakeet	Psittacara erythrogenys Lesson, 1844	Ecuador and Peru.[6]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	NT
Finsch's parakeet	Psittacara finschi (Salvin, 1871)	Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama[6]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
White-eyed parakeet	Psittacara leucophthalmus (Müller, PLS, 1776) Three subspecies[14] P. l. callogenys (Salvadori, 1891) P. l. leucophthalmus (Müller, P.L.S., 1776) P. l. nicefori (Meyer de Schauensee, 1946)	Trindad and from eastern Venezuela east through the Guianas and south through Brazil into Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina, and Uruguay.[6]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Cuban parakeet	Psittacara euops (Wagler, 1832)	Cuba[6]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	VU
Hispaniolan parakeet	Psittacara chloropterus Souancé, 1856	Dominican Republic and Haiti[6]	Size: Habitat: Diet:	VU  [15]
† Puerto Rican parakeet	Psittacara maugei (Souancé, 1856)	Mona Island	Size: Habitat: Diet: seeds, fruits, nuts and berries.[16]	EX

Hypothetical species

• † Guadeloupe parakeet (Psittacara labati)
  • Jean-Baptiste Labat described a population of small parrots living on Guadeloupe, which have been postulated to be a separate species based on little evidence. They were originally named Conurus labati, but no specimens or remains of these parrots exist. Their taxonomy may never be fully elucidated, and so their postulated status as a separate species is hypothetical.^[17]

References

1. "Psittacidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
2. Remsen Jr., J.V.; Schirtzinger, E.E.; Ferraroni, A.; Silveira, L.; Wright, T. (2013). "DNA-sequence data require revision of the parrot genus Aratinga (Aves: Psittacidae)". Zootaxa. 3641 (3): 296–300. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3641.3.9. PMID 26287088.
3. Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (1825). "Sketches in ornithology; or, Observations on the leading affinities of some of the more extensive groups of birds". Zoological Journal. 2: 37–70, 182–197, 368–405, 466-483 [388-389, 400].
4. Dickinson, E.C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr., eds. (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 368. ISBN 978-0-9568611-0-8.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2021). "Parrots, cockatoos". IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
6. Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (July 2023). "Parrots, cockatoos". IOC World Bird List. v 13.2. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
7. 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
8. BirdLife International (2018). "Green Parakeet Psittacara holochlorus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T62296899A132190435. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T62296899A132190435.en. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
9. Collar, N., G. M. Kirwan, C. J. Sharpe, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Socorro Parakeet (Psittacara brevipes), 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.grnpar2.01 retrieved April 5, 2023
10. BirdLife International (2016). "Red-throated Parakeet Psittacara rubritorquis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22729157A95008068. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22729157A95008068.en. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
11. 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
12. 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, 2022
13. Arndt, T. (2006). "A revision of the Aratinga mitrata complex, with the description of one new species, two new subspecies and species-level status of Aratinga alticola". Journal of Ornithology. 147 (1): 73–86. doi:10.1007/s10336-005-0007-7.
14. Remsen, James V.; Urantówka, Adam (2013). "Divide Aratinga into four genera". AOS South American Classification Committee. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
15. BirdLife International (2020). "Hispaniolan Parakeet Psittacara chloropterus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22685695A179413764. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22685695A179413764.en. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
16. BirdLife International (2020). "Psittacara chloropterus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22685695A179413764. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22685695A179413764.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
17. Fuller, Errol (1987). Extinct Birds. Penguin Books (England). p. 131. ISBN 0-670-81787-2.