Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
Based on an accelerating pace of tree cover loss, this species is suspected to be declining at a rapid rate. It is therefore assessed as Vulnerable.
Population justification
The population size has not been quantified.
Trend justification
The species is assessed as being in decline as a consequence of the loss of its habitat. Over the past three generations (11.6 years), roughly 15% of tree cover was lost within the range (Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). Even though the species appears to have some degree of tolerance to habitat degradation (A. Lees in litt. 2011) it appears to prefer the interior of extensive forest patches (Portes et al. 2011, D. M. Lima in litt. 2022), and therefore it is assumed that population declines were aggravated by habitat degradation. It is here tentatively suspected that forest degradation proceeded at half the rate of tree cover loss, so that the total habitat loss amounted to 22-23% over the last three generations. Assuming that population declines are roughly equivalent to habitat loss, the population may have declined by 20-29% over the same period. Tree cover loss has been accelerating since 2016 to a rate equivalent to 23% over three generations (Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). Under the assumption that forest degradation is likewise accelerating to 50% of the rate of tree cover loss, i.e. to 11-12% over three generations, the overall rate of habitat loss may now be 34-35% over three generations. The current rate of population decline is therefore placed in the band 30-39% over three generations.
Pyrrhura lepida occurs in north-east Brazil south of the Amazon in the states of Pará, Maranhão, Tocantins and Mato Grosso.
It occurs in lowland terra firme humid forest. Even though it is sometimes reported from forest edge, clearings and second growth, it appears to prefer the canopy and interior of dense, extensive forests (Parker et al. 1996, Juniper and Parr 1998, Portes et al. 2011, D. M. Lima in litt. 2022). Its ecology is largely unknown (Collar et al. 2020).
The most severe threat to the species is the loss of its habitat. Large areas of lowland forests within the range are already severely altered or have been fully cleared (ICMBio 2018). Deforestation in the Amazon basin is expected to increase further as land is cleared for cattle ranching and soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). Changes to the Brazilian Forest Code reduced the percentage of land a private landowner is legally required to maintain as forest (including, critically, a reduction in the width of forest buffers alongside perennial steams) and include an amnesty for landowners who deforested before July 2008 (who would subsequently be absolved of the need to reforest illegally cleared land) (Bird et al. 2011). Despite an apparent tolerance of some habitat degradation, the species is perhaps close to extinction in coastal areas of north Maranhão, owing to large-scale deforestation (Juniper and Parr 1998). It occurs within protected areas, but their integrity is compromised by illegal logging (Juniper and Parr 1998). There is currently no evidence that the species is suffering from trapping pressure (R. Subirá in litt. 2022).
Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II.
Text account compilers
Hermes, C.
Contributors
Benstead, P., Capper, D., Dahal, P.R., Lees, A., Lima, D., Sharpe, C.J., Somenzari, M., Subirá, R. & Symes, A.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Pearly Parakeet Pyrrhura lepida. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/pearly-parakeet-pyrrhura-lepida on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.