Abstract
During June 1985 an expedition
organized under the auspices of the
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
and the Museo de Ciencias
Naturales in Quito, Ecuador ventured
into the cloud forest of Pinas, Prov. El
Oro on the western slopes of the
Andes in southwestern Ecuador.
Their mission was to confirm the
1980 sightings of R. S. Ridgley, P.
Greenfield and R.A. Rowle tt of a
parakeet, genus Pyrrhura, differing
in coloration from other known
members of the genus.
During that three week expedition,
12 specimens were collected confirming
the presence of a new species,
the El Oro Parakeet (Pyrrhura
orcesi). In August of 1986, another
field party returned to Ecuador to
investigate the geographical distribution
of the species. Travelling 100 km
north of the original site where the
parakeet was discovered, four additional
specimens were obtained and
the species' distribution and ecology
further defined.