Olive-throated parakeet
Olive-throated parakeet | |
---|---|
A. n. nana | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Superfamily: | Psittacoidea |
Family: | Psittacidae |
Subfamily: | Arinae |
Tribe: | Arini |
Genus: | Eupsittula |
Species: | E. nana |
Binomial name | |
Eupsittula nana (Vigors, 1830) | |
The olive-throated parakeet (Eupsittula nana), also known as the olive-throated conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot in the Psittacidae family. It is found in forest and woodland in Meso- and Central America.
Description
This is a green parakeet with a brown throat and orange eyes in adults, brown eyes in juveniles. Its flight call is a noisy screech; the species also utters harsh twittering sounds and piercing chirps.[2]
Taxonomy and distribution
The species occurs in two widely disjunct population, with the nominate subspecies restricted to Jamaica and the astec group (including subspecies vicinalis) occurring from north-eastern Mexico, through the Yucatan Peninsula and along the Caribbean slope of Central America as far south as north-western Panama. The two are very similar and most authorities consider them to be part of a single species, but some have recommended splitting them, in which case the former becomes the Jamaican parakeet (E. nana) and the latter the Aztec parakeet (E. astec).
Habitat
The olive-throated parakeet inhabits wooded hill and mountain slopes but also makes use of cultivatated areas and scrubland in humid or semi-arid areas up to moderate elevations above sea level, being most common at heights of around 1000 m.[1]
Ecology
The parakeet feeds on the buds and fruit as well as some crops, whcih has resulted in it being regarded as a pest species in some areas. The species reportedly nests only in arboreal termite nests found in trees of at least medium size.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2014). "Eupsittula nana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) 2014: e.T45418540A45418571. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ↑ "Olive-throated Conure (Eupsittula nana)". World Parrot Trust Encyclopedia.