Caica Parrot Pyrilia caica Scientific name definitions

Formerly placed in the genus Pionopsitta, like all of the other members of Pyrilia, the Caica Parrot is the northeasternmost representative of this genus. It occurs from eastern Venezuela through the Guianas and over northern Brazil, north of the Amazon and east of the Rio Negro, and this species inhabits tall primary terra firme forest up to 1100 m; the Caica Parrot rarely is found in adjacent second growth or seasonally flooded areas. This species is an attractive and easily identified psittacid, with predominantly green plumage, ‘topped off’ by a brownish-black head, a bare gray orbital ring, a fulvous-brown collar that extends over the breast, dull blue primary coverts, and blackish primaries. To date, almost nothing has been published concerning the species’ ecology.

23 cm; 121–143 g. Head brownish black, with bare orbital ring grey; fulvous collar  with dark feather edges, producing scaled effect; throat and upper breast olive-brown; rest of body green , with dull blue primary-coverts, primaries blackish, tail tipped dull blue. Immature is much greener on head.

E Venezuela, the Guianas and N Brazil (from Roraima to Amapá, S to R Amazon).

Tall , primary terra firme forest and edge to 1100 m, rarely penetrating flooded forest or secondary growth.

Very few specific data. Seeds of Dracoides sagotianu, Protium, Brosium; once seen feeding on small dark red fruits.

Flight call is a peculiarly nasal, horn-like call, either a single “kyow”, a double-noted “kra ... kyow” or triple-noted “kra.kree ... kyow”. When perched , utters a wider variety of short nasal yelps and squeaking notes.

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Currently considered Near Threatened. Nowhere plentiful. Uncommon and local in E Venezuela, locally frequent in Guyana, scarce throughout Surinam, apparently common in interior French Guiana, and uncommon and local in N Brazil. Based on a model of future deforestation in the Amazon basin (1 Soares-Filho, B. S., D. C. Nepstad, L. M. Curran, G. C. Cerqueira, R. A. Garcia, C. A. Ramos, E. Voll, A. McDonald, P. Lefebvre, and P. Schlesinger (2006). Modelling conservation in the Amazon Basin. Nature 440:520–523. Close ), this species is expected to lose 13·6–17·2% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (21 years) (2 Bird, J. P., J. M. Buchanan, A. C. Lees, R. P. Clay, P. F. Develey, I. Yépez, and S. H. M. Butchart (2011). Integrating spatially explicit habitat projections into extinction risk assessments: a reassessment of Amazonian avifauna incorporating projected deforestation. Diversity and Distributions 18(3):432–439. Close ). When analysed in combination with other factors, such as threat from hunting and trapping, its population is projected to decline by 25–30% over this period; it was therefore listed as Near Threatened in 2012 BirdLife International (2016) Species factsheet: Pyrilia caica. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 06/07/2016. . Occurs in several large, strict protected areas.