Pacific parakeet
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Distinguish|Pacific parrotlet}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Pacific parakeet
| image = Pacific parakeet (Psittacara strenuus) Los Tarrales.jpg
| image_caption = Suchitepéquez Department, Guatemala
| status = CITES_A2
| status_system = CITES
| status_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=6 April 2023|website=cites.org}}
| genus = Psittacara
| species = strenuus
| authority = (Ridgway, 1915)
| synonyms = P. holochlorus strenuusHBW 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
| range_map = Psittacara strenuus map.svg
}}
The Pacific parakeet (Psittacara strenuus), known as Pacific conure or Nicaraguan green conure in aviculture{{cite web |title=PACIFIC CONURE (Psittacara strenuus) |url=https://www.parrots.org/encyclopedia/pacific-conure1 |publisher=World Parrot Trust |access-date=31 March 2023}}, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/parrots/ |title=Parrots, cockatoos |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 13.1 |editor-last1=Gill |editor-first1= F. |editor-last2=Donsker|editor-first2=D.|editor-last3=Rasmussen |editor-first3=P. |date=January 2023 |access-date=February 18, 2023 }}
Taxonomy and systematics
The Pacific parakeet was for a time placed in the genus Aratinga but from about 2013 has been in its present genus Psittacara.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{{cite web |url=https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop578.htm |title=Divide Aratinga into four genera |last=Remsen |first=James V. |last2=Urantówka |first2=Adam |date=2013 |publisher=AOS South American Classification Committee |access-date=April 5, 2023}} Its taxonomy is otherwise unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee, the American Ornithological Society, and the Clements taxonomy treat it as a full, monotypic, species.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/taxaClements, 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 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) considers it to be a subspecies of the green parakeet (P. holochlorus).
file:Pacific parakeet (Psittacara strenuus) in flight Los Tarrales.jpg
Description
The Pacific parakeet is about {{convert|32|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long. The sexes are alike. Adults are generally olive green that is slightly yellowish on the underparts; some have red speckles on their neck. The undersides of their flight feathers and tail are olive-yellow. Their iris is orange-red surrounded by bare pale beige skin, their bill horn colored, and their legs and feet brownish.{{cite book | last1 =Fagan | first1 =Jesse | last2=Komar |first2=Oliver | title =Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America | publisher =Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | series =Peterson Field Guides | date =2016 | location =Boston | pages =99–100 | isbn =978-0-544-37326-6 }}Collar, N., G. M. Kirwan, C. J. Sharpe, P. F. D. Boesman, and H. F. Greeney (2020). Pacific Parakeet (Psittacara strenuus), 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.pacpar1.01 retrieved April 6, 2023
Distribution and habitat
The Pacific parakeet is found on the Pacific slope from southern Mexico's Oaxaca state south through Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras into central Nicaragua. It inhabits a variety of woodland landscapes including deciduous, semi-deciduous, and evergreen; gallery forest; swamp forest; and arid scrublands. It also occurs in upland pine-oak forest and in urban parks and gardens. In elevation it ranges from sea level to {{convert|2600|m|ft|abbr=on}}.
Behavior
=Movement=
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=Breeding=
The Pacific parakeet's breeding biology is not well known. It has been documented nesting in rock crevices and cavities in earthen banks; it probably also nests in cavities in trees and termitaria. Its breeding season appears to include June to September.
{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Psittacara-strenuus |species=Pacific parakeet}}
=Vocalization=
Status
The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so includes the Pacific parakeet in its assessment of the green parakeet as being of Least Concern. It has estimated that the combined population numbers about 200,000 mature individuals and is decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=Green Parakeet Psittacara holochlorus |volume=2018 |page=e.T62296899A132190435 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T62296899A132190435.en |access-date=6 April 2023}} It is thought to be fairly numerous in parts of its range and occurs in at least two protected areas.