• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Range map
• Resources

Taxonomic note
Pyrrhura melanura has been split into P. melanura and P. chapmani following an assessment of the latter by Donegan et al. (2018), in light of the previous split of Maroon-tailed Parakeet into P. melanura and P. pacifica (del Hoyo and Collar 2014). While Donegan et al. (2018) are mistaken in scoring two covarying measurements twice, and only 1 is allowed for habitat difference, which in any case is not accepted here as too vague (the elevational difference may well be responsible for the increase in body size). However, in reviewing the photographs used to illustrate these differences it certainly appears that the blue primaries and the darker crown merit 2 each, the buffy nuchal region perhaps only 1 (3 seems extreme), but the size difference vs. melanura (mean wing 136.8 vs 126.6, tail 125.2 vs 109.9 in Table 1 in Ridgely & Robbins 1988, Wilson Bull. 100: 173-182) clearly scores 2, on which basis the form reaches and is accepted here as holding species rank.

Taxonomic source(s)
Donegan, T.; Verhelst, J. C.; Ellery, T.; Cortés-Herrera, O.; Salaman, P. 2016. Revision of the status of bird species occurring or reported in Colombia 2016 and assessment of BirdLife International’s new parrot taxonomy. Conservación Colombiana 24: 12-36.
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2019. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 4. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v4_Dec19.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2019	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,390,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	2011-2029
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	1-19%	-	-	-
Generation length	6 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as fairly common throughout its range (Collar et al. 2019).

Trend justification: This species is suspected to lose 6.95-7.1% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (18 years) based on a model of Amazonian deforestation (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). Given the susceptibility of the species to hunting and/or trapping, it is therefore suspected to decline by <20% over three generations.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Brazil	extant	native	yes
Colombia	extant	native	yes
Ecuador	extant	native	yes
Peru	extant	native	yes
Venezuela	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 3200 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Shifting agriculture	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Maroon-tailed Parakeet Pyrrhura melanura. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/maroon-tailed-parakeet-pyrrhura-melanura on 05/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 05/01/2025.