Pearly parakeet

Pearly parakeet
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Superfamily:	Psittacoidea
Family:	Psittacidae
Subfamily:	Arinae
Tribe:	Arini
Genus:	Pyrrhura
Species:	P. lepida
Binomial name
Pyrrhura lepida (Wagler, 1832)

The pearly parakeet (Pyrrhura lepida), more commonly known as the pearly conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot that is endemic to east Amazonian forests in Brazil. Its taxonomic history is potentially confusing. It was formerly known as Pyrrhura perlata, but following a review it was discovered that the type specimen, long believed to belong to this species, actually was a juvenile of the closely related crimson-bellied parakeet. Consequently, P. perlata was transferred to that species, while the next name in line for the pearly parakeet, P. lepida, became its valid scientific name. While the pearly parakeet remains locally fairly common, it has suffered due to extensive habitat destruction, especially in the eastern part of its range where the subspecies coerulescens may be approaching extinction.

References

• Collar, N. J. (1997). Pearly Parakeet (Pyrrhura lepida). Pp. 440 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. eds. (1997). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-22-9