Socorro Parakeet
Psittacara brevipes
Bright green bird with long, pointed tail. Bill is dull pink. Endemic to the Socorro Island off the coast of Mexico. Seen in small flocks in wooded areas. Feeds on fruit and seeds. Listen for high-pitched screeching calls.
Identification
The Socorro parakeet is 31 to 33 cm (12 to 13 in) long. The sexes are alike. It is essentially all green with a somewhat olive tinge to the underside of the flight feathers and tail. Its iris is orange-red surrounded by bare purplish brown skin, its bill horn colored, and its legs brownish.
Taxonomy
The International Ornithological Committee and the Clements taxonomy treat the Socorro parakeet as a full, monotypic, species. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) considers it to be a subspecies of the green parakeet (P. holochlorus).
- Scientific name
- Psittacara brevipes
- Authority
- (Lawrence, 1871)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Psittacara
Range and habitat
The Socorro parakeet is found only on Socorro Island off the western coast of Mexico. It inhabits forests dominated by Bumelia socorrensis, Ilex socorrensis, and Guettarda insularis, and is usually found at elevations above 500 m (1,600 ft).
Behavior
The Socorro parakeet is sedentary.<p>One study found that about half of the Socorro parakeet's diet was seeds and fruit pulp of Bumelia socorrensis with those of Ilex socorrensis, Guettarda insularis, and Psidium making up most of the rest.<p>The Socorro parakeet breeds between October and January. It typically nests in a cavity in a Bumelia socorrensis tree about 2.3 to 3.8 m (8 to 10 ft) above the ground.<p>As of early 2023, xeno-canto had only three recordings of Socorro parakeet vocalizations; the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library had many. Neither described the vocalizations in words.
Photos
Bird Calls
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