Burrowing parrot
Burrowing parrot | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Three in Chile | |
Conservation status | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Superfamily: | Psittacoidea |
Family: | Psittacidae |
Subfamily: | Arinae |
Tribe: | Arini |
Genus: | Cyanoliseus Bonaparte, 1854 |
Species: | C. patagonus |
Binomial name | |
Cyanoliseus patagonus (Vieillot, 1818) | |
The burrowing parrot (Cyanoliseus patagonus) is a bird species in the parrot family. It belongs to the smaller long-tailed Arinae (macaws and conures), and is also known as the Patagonian conure. The burrowing parrot belongs to the monotypic genus Cyanoliseus,[2] but the species is not monotypic, having several subspecies.
![](../I/m/Burrowing_Parrot_RWD1.jpg)
It is mainly found in Argentina. A very much reduced population still survives in Chile, and migration of some Argentine populations to Uruguay has been reported for the winter months. Sometimes strong westerly winds bring some individuals to the Falkland Islands.
Its natural habitat is the arid bush steppe community known as Monte.
The burrowing parrot has a monogamous mating system with very strong bi-parental care. Genetic testing has recently shown that this species is one of a few animals that is genetically monogamous in a socially monogamous mating system. Nest parasitism is not known to occur in this species.
Subspecies
![](../I/m/Cyanoliseus_patagonus_-Quequen%2C_Buenos_Aires%2C_Argentina_-flying-8.jpg)
The following four subspecies are currently known:[3]
- Cyanoliseus patagonus patagonus, Patagonian conure
- Cyanoliseus patagonus byroni, greater Patagonian conure
- Cyanoliseus patagonus andinus
- Cyanoliseus patagonus conlara
The larger the red abdominal patch, the larger the better quality of the bird. In a study of around 40 pairs, the males with the largest and most intense red patches paired with the females with the same. This carries down so that pairs tend to have the same size patch. Nestlings from males with large more intense patches also grow faster and weigh more. [4]
References
Media related to Cyanoliseus patagonus at Wikimedia Commons
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Cyanoliseus patagonus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ Forshaw, Joseph M.; Cooper, William T. (1981) [1973, 1978]. Parrots of the World (corrected second edition ed.). David & Charles, Newton Abbot, London. ISBN 0-7153-7698-5.
- ↑ Animal-world.com
- ↑ Cameron, Matt,Parrots: The Animal Answer Guide, p 36, ISBN 978-1421405445
External links
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cyanoliseus patagonus. |
- Burrowing Parrot Project
- "Genetic monogamy in burrowing parrots Cyanoliseus patagonus?" - Journal of Avian Biology