Justification This recently split species has been listed as Endangered owing to a very rapid reduction in its population size during the last three decades. Although it was formerly fairly common, trapping for the cagebird trade has extirpated it from much of its former range and it is now in urgent need of effective protection.

Family/Sub-family Psittacidae

Species name author (Linnaeus, 1758)

Taxonomic source(s) Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996)

Identification 30cm. A predominantely golden-orange parakeet with orange-red face and belly. Yellow extends from head to vent and thighs across underparts and onto back rump and shoulders on upperparts. Wing coverts, primaries secondaries and tail a suffusion of yellow, green and blue tones. Similar ssp. A.jandaya is superficially similar but lacks yellow on shoulders

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

1,000-2,499

decreasing

65,300 km²

No

Range & population Sun Parakeet Aratinga solstitialis is restricted to central Guyana and Roraima state, Brazil, and may previously have occurred in Surinam¹. Though it was fairly common until the 1970s in the Rupununi-Roraima savannas of western Guyana and adjacent Brazil, it has since been extirpated there, presumably by trappers, and it is now very scarce or absent across its former range. In Brazil it was recorded from the Mau river, Contão Cotingo river and Maracá Ecological Station² during the 1990s. Its stronghold is probably the Sipaliwini and flocks of up to 12 birds have been recently recorded at the Terra Indígena Raposa Serra do Sol, and alongside the road from Santa Helena (Venezuela) to Boa Vista 50 km from the border and 1.5 km from the Venezuelan border on the road to Boa Vista^3,4. In Guyana evidence of nesting has been found in the Karasabai area where 50-80 individuals were seen in 2003, and c.25 km from this site there are recent records from Karanambo (c. 30 km from the Brazilian border at Bonfim), and on the West Bank of Demerara in 2006^4,5. Its population probably now numbers no more than a couple of thousand individuals, and may even be less than a thousand³, with at least 90% of these in Brazil.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It is restricted to dry, semi-deciduous forests on the slopes of north and north-east Roraima, and although it uses forest edge it appears to require quite a large quantity of intact forest³. Contrary to former opinion, birds only use savannah while flying from one hill area to another^3,4.

Threats Due to high demand in the pet trade this once common species has declined dramatically during the last twenty years⁶. It has been heavily exported from Guyana during this time, leading its virtual extirpation from that country. Trappers from Guyana and French Guiana have since travelled over the border to Brazil to buy birds for export^3,4. An annual export quota of 600 birds was set by Guyana in the 1980s and it is thought that more than 2,200 were imported into the United States between 1981 and 1985⁶. Trade is ongoing, and due to the ease with which birds can be attracted to bait (e.g. corn) and the large distances they will travel it is easy to trap all the individuals in an area⁶.

Conservation measures underway It is relatively common in captivity, but it is not known what percentage of this population are hybrids between A. s. solstitialis and A. s. pintoi¹.

Conservation measures proposed Consider listing the species on CITES Appendix I. Prevent cross-border trade immediately. Work with the indigenous inhabitants of the Terra Indígena Raposa Serra do Sol and the Amerindian Community in Karasabai Village to prevent trapping and protect suitable habitat. Survey extensively to locate other important additional sub-populations.

References 1. Silveira et al. (2005). 2. M. Persio in litt. (2005). 3. L. Silveira in litt. (2007). 4. T. Arndt in litt. (2007). 5. Guyana Amazon Tropical Birds Society in litt. (2007). 6. J. Gilardi in litt. (2007).

Text account compilers Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Jonathan Ekstrom (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International)

Contributors T. Arndt, J. D. Gilardi, Nyls de Pracontal, Marcos P. Santos (Museu Goeldi), Luís Fábio Silveira (University of São Paulo), K Zimmer

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Simon Mahood (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Aratinga solstitialis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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