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Kingdom:
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Animalia
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Phylum:
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Chordata
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Class:
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Aves
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Order:
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Psittaciformes
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Superfamily:
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Psittacoidea
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Family:
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Psittacidae
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Subfamily:
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Arinae
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Tribe:
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Arini
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Genus:
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Pyrrhura
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Species:
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P.
rupicola
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Binomial name
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Pyrrhura rupicola
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About
The Black-capped Conuret or Rock
Conure (Pyrrhura rupicola), also known as the Black-capped
Conure or Rock Conure in aviculture,
is a parrot native
to the south-western Amazon Basin and adjacent east Andean slopes
in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. It has a
total length of approximately 25 cm, is mostly green with a dark
brown-black cap, whitish scaly neck and breast, red wing coverts (upper,
not lower - along leading edge) and a black beak. The breast feathers are dark
with light tips, rather than the opposite.
It lives in humid forests, ranging from the Amazonian
lowlands up to an altitude of 2000 m. on the East Andean slopes. While its
habitat is being disturbed, parts of its range are within protected areas
(e.g., in Manú National Park), and it remains widespread
and locally fairly common. Flock size 20-30, smaller in breeding
season.
Subspecies
There may be two subspecies. If so, they would be:
P. r. rupicola: Central Peru.
P. r. sandiae: South-eastern Peru, northern Bolivia and
south-western Brazil. Narrower pale edges on breast and neck feathers, absent
on hind neck. Often called the Sandia Conure in aviculture.
In the past, some speculated that it might be conspecific with
the Green-cheeked Conure. This was based on an
apparent Black-capped–Green-cheeked hybrid found
in Puno,
Peru, though the identification of this individual (or at least its provenance)
must be considered questionable, as beyond the range of the Green-cheeked
Conure, which has never been recorded in Peru.
