Short-tailed Parrot

Short-tailed Parrot
At a Peruvian village
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Psittacinae
Tribe: Arini
Genus: Graydidascalus
Bonaparte, 1854
Species: G. brachyurus
Binomial name
Graydidascalus brachyurus
(Kuhl, 1820)

The Short-tailed Parrot (Graydidascalus brachyurus) is the only species of the genus Graydidascalus. It is found along both banks of the Amazon river and other major Amazonian rivers in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. As suggested by its range, it is associated with the specific forest and woodland types growing near major rivers, although it also extends into the coastal deltas of French Guiana and Amapá, Brazil.

The closest relative is the Yellow-faced Parrot (Alipiopsitta xanthops) and the members of the genus Pionus.[2][3]

It has a total length of c. 24 cm (9½ in). It is overall green with a large dark bill (large even for a parrot) and, as suggested by its name, a very short tail. Adults show a small maroon-red spot on the shoulder and at the base of the outer tail-feathers, but typically neither are easy to see.

The species is considered safe at the moment.[4]

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). Graydidascalus brachyurus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 09 May 2006.
  2. ^ Duarte JMB and Caparroz R (1995) Cytotaxonomic analysis of Brazilian species of the genus Amazona (Psittacidae, Aves) and confirmation of the genus Salvatoria (Ribeiro, 1920). Braz J Genet 18:623-628.
  3. ^ Russello, M.A. & Amato, G (2004) A molecular phylogeny of Amazona: implications for Neotropical parrot biogeography, taxonomy, and conservation. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 30: 421-437.
  4. ^ BirdLife Species Factsheet:Short-tailed Parrot