12 thoughts on “Golden-capped Parakeet (Aratinga auricapillus): Revise global status?”
I agree with the changes, particularly because it has been increasingly common in anthropogenic environments and even benefits from plants planted by man, both for food and for reproduction.
The proposal to downlist this Brazilian endemic species from NT to LC seems reasonable. It is listed as LC in the Brazilian National Red List (2014 evaluation). It is found in hundreds of municipalities across a large distribution, so I agree it seems reasonable to assume a large population size, although there do not appear to be any attempts to quantify population size. It is an adaptable species, as Paulo Antonio Silva says, and has been observed feeding on fruits from a wide range of non-native, planted trees.
Silva, P. A., & Melo, C. (2013). Foraging of the golden-capped parakeet (Aratinga auricapillus) in an anthropogenic landscape in Brazil. Ornitología Neotropical 24: 55-66.
I agree with LC. According to data from the Brazilian assessment (ICMBio, 2022) the population is not small. The distribution is wide and the species is still common in some regions, with no indication that it is smaller or close to 10,000 mature individuals.
In the Brazilian national extinction risk assessment conducted in 2020, the species was categorised as Least Concern (LC).
*Assessors* Luís Fábio Silveira; Diego Mendes Lima; Fabiane Fileto Dias; Edson Varga Lopes; Thiago Vernaschi Vieira da Costa.
Specific questions:
-What is the population size? Is it plausible to assume that the population number >> 10,000 mature individuals?
Information on population size is not available, but it is plausible to assume it since the species has been observed in open and anthropic areas.
– What is the subpopulation structure? How many mature individuals are in the largest population?
Unknown.
– Has the population trend been quantified directly? What is the impact of trapping on the population size?
Unknown.
Justification: Aratinga auricapillus is endemic to Brazil, occurring from Alagoas to Paraná. May occupy secondary vegetation and pastures with trees. There are threats such as habitat loss and wildlife trafficking. However, it is still common in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia and Goiás. Such threats are not capable of taking the species to the brink of extinction in the near future. Therefore, A. auricapillus was categorized as Least Concern (LC).
Although it should be treated with caution as it was a globally analysis of 9,700 bird species, a recent population estimate also suggests that the population of Aratinga auricapillus is more than 10,000.
Their estimate is of 1,896,052 birds, with a lower confidence limit on the estimate of 19,605, and an upper limit of 174,846,038. While not an authoritative estimate, the fact that the entire confidence interval from 5% to 95% lies above 10,000 is a further piece of evidence that this species has a large population.
The study used “a data integration approach integrating expert-derived abundance estimates and global citizen science data”.
In reply to the comment of Ben Phalan above, I would strongly caution against using the estimates of Callaghan et al. for the purpose of assessing the conservation status of specific species. Many of the inferred estimates (including the CIs) differ considerably from those developed through more robust methods suggesting inference in this context would be unwise.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 21 February 2022. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’s Red List status on this page on 21 February 2022, when discussions will re-open.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2022.1 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 27 February 2022, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Thanks for your comment, Rowan, fair point. I would not want to rely on the Callaghan et al. estimates for much, but in this case it does seem to be consistent with my subjective that the species is quite abundant. But you’re right – better to disregard it for conservation assessment purposes.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 7 March 2022.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed, but the account for this species has been updated to incorporate additional information from this discussion. Golden-capped Parakeet is recommended to be listed as Least Concern.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2022.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
I agree with the changes, particularly because it has been increasingly common in anthropogenic environments and even benefits from plants planted by man, both for food and for reproduction.
The proposal to downlist this Brazilian endemic species from NT to LC seems reasonable. It is listed as LC in the Brazilian National Red List (2014 evaluation). It is found in hundreds of municipalities across a large distribution, so I agree it seems reasonable to assume a large population size, although there do not appear to be any attempts to quantify population size. It is an adaptable species, as Paulo Antonio Silva says, and has been observed feeding on fruits from a wide range of non-native, planted trees.
Silva, P. A., & Melo, C. (2013). Foraging of the golden-capped parakeet (Aratinga auricapillus) in an anthropogenic landscape in Brazil. Ornitología Neotropical 24: 55-66.
I agree with LC. According to data from the Brazilian assessment (ICMBio, 2022) the population is not small. The distribution is wide and the species is still common in some regions, with no indication that it is smaller or close to 10,000 mature individuals.
Updates needed
Covid-related impact on population assessment and trafficking; legal and illegal internet trade impacts
*Aratinga auricapillus*
In the Brazilian national extinction risk assessment conducted in 2020, the species was categorised as Least Concern (LC).
*Assessors* Luís Fábio Silveira; Diego Mendes Lima; Fabiane Fileto Dias; Edson Varga Lopes; Thiago Vernaschi Vieira da Costa.
Specific questions:
-What is the population size? Is it plausible to assume that the population number >> 10,000 mature individuals?
Information on population size is not available, but it is plausible to assume it since the species has been observed in open and anthropic areas.
– What is the subpopulation structure? How many mature individuals are in the largest population?
Unknown.
– Has the population trend been quantified directly? What is the impact of trapping on the population size?
Unknown.
Justification: Aratinga auricapillus is endemic to Brazil, occurring from Alagoas to Paraná. May occupy secondary vegetation and pastures with trees. There are threats such as habitat loss and wildlife trafficking. However, it is still common in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia and Goiás. Such threats are not capable of taking the species to the brink of extinction in the near future. Therefore, A. auricapillus was categorized as Least Concern (LC).
Although it should be treated with caution as it was a globally analysis of 9,700 bird species, a recent population estimate also suggests that the population of Aratinga auricapillus is more than 10,000.
Their estimate is of 1,896,052 birds, with a lower confidence limit on the estimate of 19,605, and an upper limit of 174,846,038. While not an authoritative estimate, the fact that the entire confidence interval from 5% to 95% lies above 10,000 is a further piece of evidence that this species has a large population.
The study used “a data integration approach integrating expert-derived abundance estimates and global citizen science data”.
Reference
Callaghan, C.T., Nakagawa, S., Cornwell, W.K., (2021). Global abundance estimates for 9,700 bird species. PNAS 118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023170118
In reply to the comment of Ben Phalan above, I would strongly caution against using the estimates of Callaghan et al. for the purpose of assessing the conservation status of specific species. Many of the inferred estimates (including the CIs) differ considerably from those developed through more robust methods suggesting inference in this context would be unwise.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 21 February 2022. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’s Red List status on this page on 21 February 2022, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2022.1 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 27 February 2022, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Thanks for your comment, Rowan, fair point. I would not want to rely on the Callaghan et al. estimates for much, but in this case it does seem to be consistent with my subjective that the species is quite abundant. But you’re right – better to disregard it for conservation assessment purposes.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested by so many people in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 7 March 2022.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed, but the account for this species has been updated to incorporate additional information from this discussion. Golden-capped Parakeet is recommended to be listed as Least Concern.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2022.1 GTB Forum process. The final 2022.1 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in July 2022, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.