Thick-billed Parrot

This page is about the species of parrot. For the genus of parrots, see thick-billed parrot (note capitalisation)

Thick-billed Parrot
At Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Superfamily:	Psittacoidea
Family:	Psittacidae
Subfamily:	Arinae
Tribe:	Arini
Genus:	Rhynchopsitta Bonaparte, 1854
Species:	R. pachyrhyncha
Binomial name
Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha Swainson, 1827
Synonyms
Macrocercus pachyrhynchus Sittace pachyrhynchus Rhynchopsittacus pachyrhynchus

The Thick-billed Parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha) (sometimes erroneously referred to as Thick-billed Macaw) is an endangered medium-size bright green Neotropical parrot with a large black bill and red forecrown, shoulder and thighs native to the mountains of northwestern Mexico. They are also called "snow parrots" because they are usually found only at high altitudes (i.e. above the snow line). In Mexico, they are locally called guacamaya ("macaw") or cotorra serrana ("mountain parrot"). Its former range extended into the southwestern United States; it was one of only two native North American parrots.

The bird was possibly seen by Spanish Friar Marcos de Niza in his exploration of Arizona and New Mexico in 1538-39. In his report Relacion de la Jornado de Cibola, he saw "flocks of raucous parrots" near what is today Flagstaff/Sedona in central Arizona.

Taxonomy

pachyrhyncha is currently classified as a species of the genus Rhynchopsitta of macaw-like thick-billed parrots of which there are two extant species (the other being Maroon-fronted Parrot), and one extinct species. However, recent molecular DNA studies indicate that pachyrhyncha and its sister species terrisi in genus Rhynchopsitta are conspecific subspecies.^{[2] [Note 1]} Rhynchopsitta is one of numerous genera of New World long-tailed parrots in tribe Arini, which also includes the Central and South American macaws. Tribe Arini together with the Amazonian parrots and a few miscellaneous genera make up subfamily Arinae of Neotropical parrots in family Psittacidae of true parrots.

The bird was first described by English naturalist and illustrator William John Swainson who designated it Macrocercus pachyrhynchus in Philosophical Magazine, new ser., 1, no. 6, p. 439 (1827). Swainson evidently thought because of its size and heavy beak, that it was a Macaw (at that time, any parrot of the genus Sittace, or Macrocercus). It was later placed in its own genus Rhynchopsitta by French naturalist Prince Charles Bonaparte in 1854. The name is derived from Ancient Greek rhynchos (beak) and psittakos (parrot) and Greek pachy- (thick) and rhynchos (beak), hence a "thick-beaked parrot".

Morphologically, Brazilian ornithologist Helmut Sick calls this bird "a highly modified macaw".^[3] In a recent molecular study, genus Rhynchopsitta was placed in a large clade including all of tribe Arini and a few other genera; its closest relatives were similar size parakeets in Enicognathus, Pyrrhura, Pionites, and Deroptyus genera of the clade. In a separate molecular analysis in the same study, Rhynchopsitta was placed in a clade in which it was sister to Pyrrhura but not other genera.^[4]

Description

The Thick-billed Parrot is a medium-sized, bright green parrot with a large black bill and red forecrown, shoulder and thighs. Adult eyes are amber, while juveniles have brown eyes. The rest of the bird is bright green. Thick-billed Parrots show red shoulders and leading edge on the underwing, followed by a blackish green stripe, then a yellow stripe, followed by the remaining underwing showing dark green. It appears to show a blackish tail.^[5] It is 38 cm (15 in) long and weight 315-370gm. They live up to 33 years in captivity.^[6] It is similar to the Military Macaw Ara militaris which is larger with proportionally longer tail and blue flight feathers and rump, and Lilac-crowned Amazon Amazona finschi^[7] (note that these are not the phylogenetically closest relatives - see Taxonomy).

The bird sounds like a high pitched macaw and makes a variety of harsh, rolling calls described as like human laughter.

Distribution and habitat

The Thick-billed Parrot lives in temperate conifer, pine, mature pine-oak and fir forests from 1200 to 3600 meters. For the most part, it is restricted to the Sierra Madre Occidental in Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico, though it was formerly endemic to the pine forests of southeastern Arizona and possibly southwestern New Mexico, United States. Early accounts also place them in far west Texas (Audubon, El Paso, 1827), and portions of Utah and Colorado^{[Note 2]}. The last reliable reports of the birds in the southwestern United States were in 1935 and 1938 in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona(Monson and Phillips 1981 in Snyder et al. 1999).^[8]

In parts of its existing range, Quaking Aspens dead or alive are the dominant tree selected for nesting.^[9]

Behavior and Diet

Juvenile (pale bill) and adult (dark bill) at Twycross Zoo, England

The Thick-billed Parrot likes to nest in tree cavities, especially old woodpecker holes. It mainly feeds on seeds from various pine species. Mexican white pine appears to be a preferred species but the seeds of Douglas fir, Apache pine and Chihuahua pine are also taken. Their entire lives revolve around cone production. Flocks of these parrots roost by cliffs and they breed at the peak of pine seed production. It is nomadic, following the variations of cone abundance. They are adept fliers.

Conservation and Threats

Principal threats are illegal pet trade, habitat loss principally due to logging, climate change (hotter temperatures that raise the snow line and increasing fire threats), and predators especially hawks. The Thick-billed Parrot is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and is on Appendix I of CITES, trade forbidden except for legitimate conservation, scientific, or educational purposes. It is also listed as Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

BirdLife International survey 2004 suggests that there may be 2,000-2,800 mature individuals and only 100 active nests in the entire population, but notes that this may be an overestimate; the distribution of this species is only 600 km2. In June, 2013, the population was estimated as 2097 with the proviso that the number may be an underestimate. However, it is well-established in captive breeding programs in zoos in the United States and Europe.

For more than 10 years, Pronatura Noreste (a northeastern Mexican environmental NGO) and Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education have been monitoring 700 nests of Thick-Billed Parrots in Chihuahua. Through conservation easements with the ejidos, the organization has created sanctuaries for the protection of the bird's habitat.

Arizona reintroduction

Adult at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland

Birds were reintroduced in Arizona in the 1980s, but this effort turned out to be unsuccessful. The re-introduction into the mountains of southeastern Arizona (the Madrean sky islands region), though well planned was dramatically impacted by predation. Due to extensive human development, residency, agriculture, etc., high numbers of predator species exist, especially hawks, including the goshawk. The bird loss was especially high to these now well-emplaced predator species. The effort was abandoned in 1993, and the last of the introduced parrots was seen in 1995.

See also

• thick-billed parrot (genus)
• Carolina Parakeet the only other native North American parrot

References

• Howell, Steven N. G. & Webb, Sophie (1995): A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York. ISBN 0-19-854012-4

Footnotes

External links

• ITESM Site
• ARKive - images and movies of the Thick-billed Parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha)
• Pronatura Noreste in Sierra Madre Occidental
• Stamps for Mexico, United States
• Thick-billed Parrot videos on the Internet Bird Collection