• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Justification of Red List category
This species is classified as Near Threatened because its population is suspected to be declining moderately rapidly owing to the conversion of its habitat and the impacts of trapping for the cage-bird trade.

Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as uncommon to locally common (Sick 1993, Stotz et al. 1996).

Trend justification
The population trend has not been quantified directly, but the population is suspected to be in decline as a consequence of the conversion of its habitat and trapping for the cage-bird trade.
Over three generations (15 years; Bird et al. 2020), 14% of tree cover (with 30% canopy cover) is lost within the range (Global Forest Watch 2021, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein); moreover, large tracts of cerrado habitat in the region have already been converted in the past (Collar and Boesman 2020). The species is additionally locally threatened by trapping for the cage-bird trade, though the impacts of this threat on the population size have not been quantified. Based on the available evidence, the population decline is here tentatively placed in the band 20-29% over three generations, but a more accurate estimate for the rate of decline is urgently required.

Alipiopsitta xanthops is restricted to the cerrado biome of interior Brazil (Maranhão, Piauí, Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Distrito Federal, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo), north-central Bolivia (Beni and possibly Santa Cruz) and northwestern Paraguay (Concepción).

This semi-nomadic cerrado specialist occurs in wooded grassland (cerradão), spiny arid scrub (caatinga), gallery forest and Mauritia palm-stands (Willis and Oniki 1988, Sick 1993). It is a generalist and its diet consists of flowers, fruit and seeds (Bianchi 2009, de Araújo and Marcondes-Machado 2011). Food species include Pouteria ramiflora, Mauritia flexuosa, Erythroxylum suberosum, Annona coriacea, Rubus cf. fruticosusas, Anacardium, Salacia crassifolia and Astronium fraxinifolium (Juniper and Parr 1998, Bianchi 2009). Birds have been reported taking unripe guava Psidium fruit in plantations and will spend weeks visiting mango trees (Juniper and Parr 1998, Bianchi 2009). Maize Zea mays is also eaten (Bianchi 2009). Birds have been observed feeding opportunistically on termites (Bianchi 2009). However, the semi-nomadism of the species suggests that it depends on unpredictable food resources. Breeding takes place between May and October in Emas National Park (Bianchi 2009).

By 1993, two-thirds of the Cerrado region had been either heavily or moderately altered, with most of the destruction having occurred since 1950 (Cavalcanti 1999, Conservation International 1999). High-quality cerrado habitats are being rapidly destroyed by mechanised agriculture, intensive cattle-ranching, afforestation, invasive grasses, excessive use of pesticides and annual burning (Stotz et al. 1996, Parker and Willis 1997, Berkunsky et al. 2017). Caatinga habitats are less threatened, but still suffer conversion to agriculture, grazing and burning.
The species is moreover threatened by trapping for the cage-bird trade (Berkunsky et al. 2017).

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. It occurs notably in Emas, Brasília, Araguaia, Grande Sertões Veredas, Chapada dos Veadeiros and Chapada dos Guimarães National Parks and Mangabeiras Environmental Protection Area (Forrester 1993, Machado et al. 1998, F. Olmos in litt. 1999, Snyder et al. 2000), but no protected area holds permanent populations.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Survey to determine its current distribution. Accurately quantify the population size. Research the species's ecology and movement patterns. Investigate the subpopulation structure. Assess the impact of habitat loss on the population size. Monitor the population trend. Monitor rates of habitat loss and degradation.Create a network of large reserves within the known range. Establish programmes to restore habitat. Raise awareness for the species and its habitat. Prevent and ban trapping.

26.5 cm. Green-and-yellow parrot. Pale green above. Yellow crown, lores and cheeks. Rest of head yellow, broadly scaled green. Greenish-yellow underparts scaled green. Yellow patches with orange mottling on sides of belly. White periocular. Distinctive bill with mostly dark maxilla and yellowish mandible. Immature is greener and has more restricted yellow on head. Similar spp. Blue-fronted Amazon A. aestiva is larger, with turquoise forecrown and different breast pattern. Voice High-pitched kréwe-kréwe and grayo-grayo calls.

Text account compilers
Hermes, C.

Contributors
Benstead, P., Capper, D., Olmos, F., Sharpe, C.J., Silva, P., Silva, S., Symes, A. & Yamashita, C.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Yellow-faced Parrot Alipiopsitta xanthops. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/yellow-faced-parrot-alipiopsitta-xanthops on 23/12/2024.
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 23/12/2024.