Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
medium |
| Land-mass type |
continent
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: The species is described as locally common in suitable habitat remnants (Juniper and Parr 1998). In 1995, the species was estimated to number 15,000 individuals, principally in Ecuador (Best et al. 1995). Since then the population has undergone a very rapid decline, but there are no up-to-date estimates of the population size.
The national population in Peru is currently estimated at 1,500 individuals (SERFOR 2018). Peru roughly contains 10% of the global range, and assuming that population densities are equivalent across the range the total population is inferred to number 15,000 individuals, which equates to 10,000 mature individuals. As such, the population value from 1995 may have been an underestimate.
It is tentatively assumed that the species forms at least two subpopulations, one in the extreme southwestern Ecuador and adjacent Peru, and one in Guayas and along the coast of west Ecuador. Based on observational records (eBird 2021) it is assumed that the largest subpopulation numbers >1,000 mature individuals.
Trend justification: The species has declined very rapidly in the past as a consequence of trapping for the cage-bird trade, together with habitat destruction, fragmentation and persecution. Even though the species can use a variety of habitats, its preferred forest and woodland habitats are being converted for agricultural purposes (Collar and Boesman 2020); over the past three generations (16.2 years; Bird et al. 2020), tree cover within the range has been lost at a rate of 4% (Global Forest Watch 2021).
A population decrease during the 20th century became marked in the early 1980s (Best et al. 1995; Juniper and Parr 1998), with 59,320 individuals reportedly imported by CITES countries in 1983-1988 and declines of 70% reported over ten years (Juniper and Parr 1998). Transect counts in Cerros de Amotape National Park and Tumbes National Reserve revealed a decline of 33.2% between 1992 and 2008 (Anon. 2009). Between 2007 and 2011, 216 individuals were counted on animal markets in Peru (Daut et al. 2015), and trapping is apparently continuing in many communities in Ecuador (Biddle et al. 2021). Population declines seem to have slowed down in recent years however. In Ecuador, the rate decline has been placed in the band 30-49% over three generations (Freile et al. 2019), while declines in the small population in Peru appear to have decreased considerably or stopped altogether (SERFOR 2018).
Preliminarily the overall decline is here placed in the band 30-49% over three generations, though this requires confirmation.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Grey-cheeked Parakeet Brotogeris pyrrhoptera. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/grey-cheeked-parakeet-brotogeris-pyrrhoptera on 25/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 25/12/2024.
