Jandaya parakeet

Jandaya parakeet
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Aratinga
Species:
A. jandaya
Binomial name
Aratinga jandaya
(Gmelin, JF, 1788)

The jandaya parakeet (Aratinga jandaya), also called the jenday conure, is a parrot from South America. It lives in the forests and other wooded places in northeastern Brazil. They are very closely related to sun parakeets.

Jandaya parakeets can be hard to find in the wild, even though they live across a wide area. They are very common as pets, where they are usually called "jenday conures."

Taxonomy

A German naturalist named Georg Marcgrave was the first person to write about the jandaya parakeet. He saw the bird in 1638 while on a trip to Dutch Brazil.

Between 1678 and 1781, many other naturalists included the jandaya parakeet in their own books, using Marcgrave's description. This is because many of them did not see the bird themselves.

In 1788, a German naturalist named Johann Friedrich Gmelin updated the book Systema Naturae written by Carl Linnaeus. In the book, Gmelin gave the jandaya parakeet its first scientific name: Psittacus jandaya.

Later, the jandaya parakeet was moved to the genus Aratinga. The name Aratinga is from a language called Tupi. Ará tinga means "bright bird" or "bright parrot" in that language. The second part of its name, jandaya, is also from Tupi. Jandáia means "noisy crier."

Description

It has green wings and a green tail. Its body is reddish-orange, and it has a black beak. Its head and neck are yellow, and its cheeks are orange. Jandaya parakeets have a very loud, high-pitched call.

Distribution and habitat

It lives in northeastern Brazil. It is found in the states of Piauí, Maranhão, Tocantins, and Ceará, and in parts of Goiás and Pará. They also live in places where there are lots of palm trees.

Behavior

Food and feeding

In the wild, it eats many kinds of fruit. This includes mangoes and cashew apples. It also eats palm nuts. Sometimes, it eats crops grown by humans, like rice, corn, and plants in the custard-apple family. Chocolate, caffeine, and avocados are poisonous to jandaya parakeets.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (BirdLife International) (2025-06-04). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Aratinga jandaya". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  2. ↑ Marcgrave, Georg (1648). Historia Naturalis Brasiliae: Liber Quintus: Qui agit de Avibus (in Latin). Lugdun and Batavorum (London and Leiden): Franciscum Hackium and Elzevirium. p. 206.
  3. ↑ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1788). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 319.
  4. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 53, 211. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ↑ DVM, Christal Pollock (2013-09-12). "Foods Toxic To Pet Birds – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co". Lafeber® Pet Birds. Retrieved 2026-07-19.