Cordilleran parakeet

The cordilleran parakeet was for a time placed in the genus Aratinga but from about 2013 has been in its present genus Psittacara.[5][4] Its taxonomy is otherwise unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) assign it two subspecies, the nominate P. f. frontatus (Cabanis, 1846) and P. f. minor (Carriker, 1933). The American Ornithological Society and the Clements taxonomy treat the two taxa as subspecies of the scarlet-fronted parakeet (P. wagleri, GR Gray, 1845).[4][6][7][3]

The cordilleran parakeet is 34 to 40 cm (13 to 16 in) long and weighs 162 to 217 g (5.7 to 7.7 oz). The sexes are alike. Adults are generally green that is yellower on the underparts; some have red speckles on their throat. Their forehead, the front part of their crown, and the bend of their wing are red. The undersides of their flight feathers and tail are olive-yellow. Their iris is pale gray surrounded by bare white skin, their bill horn colored, and their legs and feet brownish. Subspecies P. f. minor is overall somewhat smaller and greener than the nominate, the red on its crown is paler, and some individuals have yellow at the bend of the wing. Immature birds resemble adults but with less red on their head.[8][9]

The nominate subspecies of the cordilleran parakeet is found on the western slope of the Andes in Eucador's Loja Province and south through most of western Peru. Subspecies P. f. minor is found in inter-Andean valleys of the Marañón and Pampas rivers in northern and south-central Peru. The species inhabits a variety of landscapes including the edges of cloudforest, montane forest, and gallery and secondary forest. It also occurs in agricultural areas, and parks in built-up areas. In elevation it ranges from 1,000 to 2,500 m (3,300 to 8,200 ft) in Ecuador and as high as 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in Peru.[8][9]

The IUCN has assessed the cordilleran parakeet as Near Threatened. Though it has a fairly large range, its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. The primary threats are "trapping pressure, persecution and habitat loss and land-use change."[1] It is rare and local in Ecuador and common in some areas in Peru.[8][9]