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White-headed Pionus

wild white-head photo courtesy of Vinicuio Perez

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Referred to as White–capped parrots by working ornithologists, Pionus seniloides returns us to the world of taxonomic confusion. In a brief paper in Condor in 1976, authors Ted Parker III and John O’Neil assert that P. seniloides is actually a subspecies of the Plum–crowned parrot (Pionus tumultuosus). They base this conclusion on their observation that there is a distinct break between the white-headed populations of Ecuador and northern Peru and the Plum–crowned populations of southern Peru and Bolivia, while the only recognizable morphological difference seems to be the amount of purple coloration present in the feathers of the head. Interestingly, Ridgely, Forshaw, and other researchers dismiss these distinctions and view the two forms to be separate species. Until we are more certain, I prefer to treat P. seniloides as a separate species.

Results of the Survey of P. tumultuous seniloides in Northern Ecuador, by Ana Christina Sosa.

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