Michael,

Thanks much. Is there variation in these characters by sex and/or age?

Gene.

On Thu, 4 Apr 1996, M. Smith wrote:

> 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
>
>