Painted parakeet | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Superfamily: | Psittacoidea |
Family: | Psittacidae |
Subfamily: | Arinae |
Tribe: | Arini |
Genus: | Pyrrhura |
Species: | P. picta |
Binomial name | |
Pyrrhura picta (Müller, 1776) |
The painted parakeet (Pyrrhura picta), more commonly known as the painted conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in the family Psittacidae, the true parrots. Its taxonomy is highly complex, and has undergone significant changes in recent years. As here defined, it is restricted to forests in northern South America (north of the Amazon River) and Panama. Some of the taxa here included in the painted parakeet are highly endangered.
Traditionally, the painted parakeet included the Santarém parakeet (P. amazonum), Bonaparte's parakeet (P. lucianii) and rose-fronted parakeet (P. roseifrons) as subspecies. Following a review in 2002, it was recommended treating these as separate species. In 2006, a study based on mtDNA confirmed that the "traditional" painted parakeet was polyphyletic, as P. p. picta was closer to the taxon emma (traditionally considered a subspecies of the white-eared parakeet, P. leucotis) than it was to amazonum and roseifrons. The taxon lucianii was not sampled, but based on plumage and biogeography it likely falls between P. amazonum and P. roseifrons. In 2002 it had also been recommended treating the Azuero parakeet (P. eisenmanni), Sinú parakeet (P. subandina) and Todd's/Perijá parakeet (P. caeruleiceps) as separate species. Of these, only eisenmanni was sampled in 2006, where it, although with low bootstrap support, was found to be relatively close to P. p. picta, and arguably should be retained as a subspecies of the painted parakeet. Based on plumage and biogeography, caeruleiceps and subandina are likely also part of this group. Consequently, the South American Classification Committee voted for treating these as subspecies of the painted parakeet. Following this treatment, the painted parakeet includes the following subspecies: