Red-masked parakeet - Misplaced Pages

Parrot native to Ecuador and Peru

Red-masked parakeet

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Psittacidae
Genus:	Psittacara
Species:	P. erythrogenys
Binomial name
*Psittacara erythrogenys* Lesson, 1844

The red-masked parakeet (Psittacara erythrogenys) is a medium-sized parrot from Ecuador and Peru. It is popular as a pet and are better known in aviculture as the cherry-headed conure or the red-headed conure. They are also considered the best talkers of all the conures.

Description

Red-masked parakeets average about 33 centimetres (13 in) long, of which half is the tail. They are bright green with a mostly red head on which the elongated pale eye-ring is conspicuous; the nape is green. Also, the lesser and median underwing coverts are red, and there is some red on the neck, the thighs, and the leading edge of the wings. Juveniles have green plumage, until their first red feathers appear at around the age of four months. Its call is two-syllabled, harsh and loud.

Habitat and distribution

These birds are native to southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru, where they primarily live in jungle and deciduous forest. They can also thrive in semiarid regions as well as in suburban regions. While they can live up to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) above sea level, they are usually found below the 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) mark. Their wide distribution and popularity as pets contributes to their successful introduction in other areas upon release especially in the southern and western areas of the United States as exotic feral birds.

Feral populations

Escaped cage birds are considered to be introduced in Spain. They make up most of the feral population in San Francisco, California, in the United States, which is documented in the film The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill by Judy Irving, based on the book of the same name by Mark Bittner. They are also seen in part of Hawaii. Breeding populations of feral parakeets have been observed in California in San Francisco, San Diego County, Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, Sunnyvale, Orange County, Palo Alto and Long Beach. The birds have been observed feeding on the fruits and flowers and nesting in palm trees.

Breeding

Clutches average three to four eggs and incubation is over within 23 or 24 days. Nests are usually made in tree cavities and they can breed successfully in small woodlots or even isolated trees in degraded forests. Juvenile birds fledge after 50 days with green plumage.

Conservation status

It has been the tenth most common Neotropical parrot imported into the US with over 26,000 parakeets checked in from 1981 to 1985. This bird was formerly more common in its limited range, and was reclassified by the IUCN from a species of least concern to a species that is near threatened in 1994. This is due to declining populations brought by widespread local pet trade in Peru and Ecuador, which has contributed to habitat loss and fragmentation.

References

BirdLife International (2021). "Psittacara erythrogenys". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22685672A196426252. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
DNA-sequence data require revision of the parrot genus Aratinga (Aves: Psittacidae) J.V. Remsen, Jr., Erin E. Schirtzinger, Anna Ferraroni, Luís Fábio Silveira & Timothy F. Wright
^ "Red-masked Conures (Aratinga erythrogenys)". 16 September 2021.
"Data" (PDF). sdplantatlas.org.
Athan, Mattie Sue (2010). Guide to Companion Parrot Behavior. Barron's Educational Series. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-7641-4213-0. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
"Red-masked Parakeet (Psittacara erythrogenys) - BirdLife species factsheet".
"The Parrot Pages" - Mark Bittner 2008
"Red masked parakeet" (PDF). hbs.bishopmuseum.org.
"HCPB-California's Plants and animals". Archived from the original on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
"Archived copy" (PDF). www.ibiologia.unam.mx. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)