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. 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2014). "Eupsittula nana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN) 2014: e.T45418540A45418571. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  2. "Olive-throated Conure (Eupsittula nana)". World Parrot Trust Encyclopedia.
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