The red-billed parrot (Pionus sordidus), also known as coral-billed pionus or red-billed pionus, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
In 1751 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the red-billed parrot in the fourth volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The dusky parrot". Edwards based his hand-colored etching on a live bird in London that was owned by the botanist and Fellow of the Royal Society Peter Collinson. Collinson believed his parrot had come from New Spain. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the red-billed parrot with the other parrots in the genus Psittacus. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Psittacus sordidus, and cited Edwards' work. The red-billed parrot is now one of eight species of parrot placed in the genus Pionus that was introduced in 1832 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler. The genus name is from Ancient Greek piōn, pionos meaning "fat". The specific epithet sordidus is Latin meaning "shabby" or "dirty".
The red-billed parrot has these six subspecies:
P. s. saturatus Todd, 1915
P. s. ponsi Aveledo & Ginés, 1950
P. s. sordidus (Linnaeus, 1758)
P. s. antelius Todd, 1947
P. s. corallinus Bonaparte, 1854
P. s. mindoensis Chapman, 1925
In the early 20th century some authors treated subspecies P. s. corallinus as a separate species. More recently some authors have questioned the validity of P. s. mindoensis as separate from corallinus. The red-billed parrot and the scaly-headed parrot (P. maximiliani) are sister species.
Description
The red-billed parrot is 27 to 29 cm (11 to 11 in) long and weighs about 272 g (9.6 oz). All of the subspecies have the eponymous red bill. Adults of the...
