Birds · Psittaciformes · Psittacidae
Santa Marta Parakeet
Pyrrhura viridicata
It faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. See full glossary
The Santa Marta parakeet is a small green parrot with orange markings on the face and shoulder, endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated massif of the Colombian Caribbean that is one of the places with the most endemic species per unit area on the planet. Its total range is tiny and depends on the cloud forests of the sierra, much reduced by deforestation and farming.
Weight
70 g – 90 g
Size
25 cm – 27 cm
Lifespan
20 years
Diet
Herbivore
Feeds mainly on plants.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Sighting difficulty
Hard
Estimated population
Fewer than 3,000 mature individuals
Fun facts
- It lives in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated massif that reaches almost 5,800 metres only forty kilometres from the Caribbean Sea: it is the highest coastal mountain in the world and holds dozens of species found nowhere else.
- Its distribution fits into a few dozen square kilometres of hillside, and the deforestation of that strip is the only variable that decides its future.
- It moves in noisy flocks following the fruiting, and can vanish from an area for weeks only to reappear when particular fruits ripen.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- Cloud forest of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in Colombia, between 1,800 and 2,800 metres
- Sexual maturity
- 2 years
- Gestation / incubation
- 25 days of incubation
- Litter / clutch size
- 4 eggs
Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/
Where to watch it
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Santa Marta Parakeet — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Yellow-eared Parrot
Ognorhynchus icterotis
Yellow-Crowned Amazon
Amazona ochrocephala
Helmeted Curassow
Pauxi pauxi
Military Macaw
Ara militaris
Least ConcernBlue-And-Yellow Macaw
Ara ararauna
Critically EndangeredGreat Green Macaw
Ara ambiguus
How to help
The santa marta parakeet is classified as endangered. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 2 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
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