On Thu, 4 Apr 1996, Eugene Hunn wrote:
> Perhaps Michael would care to explain on what basis it has been decided
> that these are all Scarlet-fronted Parakeets (Aratinga wagleri from N
> South America) and not Crimson-fronted Parakeets (Aratinga finschi from s
> Central America) or perhaps some population of Green Parakeet (A.
> holochlora from Mexico and adjacent regions). Can we be sure they are
> all the same species?

Gladly, at least for the Seward Park birds (I haven't seen the northern
birds). Crimson-fronted Parakeet was eliminated due to the lack of
crimson patches on the underwing coverts (wing lining near the alula).
This is well-described in Forshaw (1989) _Parrots of the World_. None of
the birds I have seen have this patch. This also eliminates the
_frontata_ and _minor_ subspecies of Scarlet-fronted. Fred Bird has also
seen this (lack of) field character, and noted it. As far as Green
Parakeets, all the birds I have seen have a small red patch on the
forehead/crown. This is not indicative of Green Parakeets. However,
there has not been a time when all seven were lined up in good light,
close to each other so I could examine each and every head. There could
be a sneaky Green Parakeet in there. But everytime I've seen a head, it's
had the red patch.

With that said, I will admit that I'm still not sure of the ID, and in
fact I had just written Fred about this fact when Gene's message came in.
The species that concerns me is the 'alticola' Mitred Parakeet (Aratinga
mitrata alticola), native to 'central and southern Peru south through
eastern Bolivia to La Rioja and western Cordoba in north-western
Argentina' (Forshaw 1989 p. 431). The diagrams of Mitred and
Scarlet-fronted are very hard to differentiate, and the text gives no
indication. The fact that these birds are interested in tree cavities
lends weight to their being Mitred, as Scarlet-fronted are known to nest
in large groups in cliff crevices. So I'd like to issue a request:

If any of you with parrot experience know of any field methods for
differentiating these birds:
'wagleri' Scarlet-fronted Parakeet (Aratinga wagleri wagleri)
'transilis' Scarlet-fronted Parakeet (Aratinga wagleri transilis)
'alticola' Mitred Parakeet (Aratinga mitrata alticola)
PLEASE let me know. I'm still hung up on which of those three they are.

Oh and for those of you following in books, note that names are not
consistent. Parrot people usually call the _Aratinga_ birds conures, as
does Forshaw.

Scarlet-fronted Parakeet = Red-fronted Conure = Aratinga wagleri
Crimson-fronted Parakeet = Crimson-fronted Conure = Aratinga finschi
Green Parakeet = Green Conure = Aratinga holochlora
Mitred Parakeet = Mitred Conure = Aratinga mitrata

-------------
Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html