AN ADDITION TO FLORIDA'S EXOTIC AVIFAUNA: SUN PARAKEETS (Aratinga solstitialis) IN PASCO COUNTY

摘要

With 218 exotic bird species reported outside of captivity, and with 132 of these verifiably documented from photographic or specimen evidence (Pranty in prep.), Florida is recognized as one of the exotic-bird capitals of the world. Monitoring exotic birds is important for several reasons, including documentation of the species richness present and determination of potential impacts to native species, habitats, agriculture, animal husbandry, human health, or commerce. Here, we describe a new exotic bird for Florida, the Sun Parakeet (Aratinga solstitialis), a monotypic, endangered species native to savanna, dry forest, and seasonally flooded scrub forest in northeastern Brazil and southern Guyana (Silveira et al. 2005). Sun Parakeets are popular in aviculture due to their bright colors, but neither Long (1981) nor Lever (1987, 2005) knew of the presence of any exotic populations. The only potential previous report for Florida referred to two Aratinga that may have been Sun Parakeets observed in flight over Wilton Manors, Broward County, during 2000 (Pranty and Epps 2002).