First record of the Pyrrhura lucianii Deville , 1851 ( Psittaciformes , Psittacidae ) in Acre , Brazil , with notes on the consumption of salt

The Brazilian endemic species Pyrrhura lucianii Deville, 1851, was found on private property in the municipality of Senador Guiomard in Acre State, Brazil. This is the first record of this parakeet species in the state, expanding its distribution in 219 km to the south of Pauini, the nearest location. The species was observed consuming salt, used as a cattle feed supplement.

Pyrrhura lucianii measures 22 cm, is mostly green, with blue wing tips, red-chestnut tail, a red belly, a scaly front part of the neck, a dark head, and a chestnut-brown face with whitish cheek feathers (del Hoyo et al. 2017).The distribution of P. lucianii is restricted to the southern margin of the Solimões river, based in its type locality in Tefé and on part of the Purus river, and it is a Brazilian endemic (del Hoyo et al. 2017).In recent years, the species has been recorded in the southern part of Amazonas State, including the localities of Pauni (Laranjeiras 2013, Fig. 1), Lábrea (Lopes 2014), and Canutama (Oliveira 2016).The reproductive biology as well as ecological aspects of the species are unknown, although its feeding appears to be similar to other species of the genus, which exploit the fruits and seeds of a wide variety of plants

Methods
The record was made following expeditions to Fazenda União on 26 January 2017 and 3 February 2017.Fazenda União is a private property of around 100 ha located in the municipality of Senador Guiomard in the eastern region of Acre (Fig. 1).This region is a land access route via the BR 364 to the rest of the country.Its native landscape, which was dominated by open ombrophilous forests (Acre 2006), has been considerably reduced, giving way to innumerous agricultural ventures.The remaining forest fragments are distributed among agrobusiness projects or private property legal reserves.
Identification.The species was identified by comparison of the photos with specialized literature (Forshaw andKnight 2010, del Hoyo et al. 2017).The most important characteristics that made us identify the birds observed as P. lucianii were the red belly, the dark head and the chestnut region around the eyes (Fig. 2).Two more species of Pyrrhura parakeets-the Black-capped Parakeet P. rupicola (Tschudi, 1844) and Rose-fronted Parakeet P. roseifrons (Gray, 1859)-also occur in Acre (Guilherme 2012(Guilherme , 2016)).The main difference of P. roseifrons in relation to P. lucianii is the very characteristic bright red color on the head and face of the first (Fig. 2), although this characteristic is barely noticeable in young individuals of this species (del Hoyo et al. 2017), and until now, P. roseifrons has been recorded only in western Acre (Guilherme 2012(Guilherme , 2016)).P. rupicola is the biggest of the 3 (25 cm) and differs from P. lucianii by the red tips of its wings and the green cheek feathers, but the main difference is the lack of red on its belly, which is present in P. lucianii (Fig. 2).On 26 January 2017, JR observed at Fazenda União for the first time a flock of 12 individuals feeding on a guava tree Psidium guajava L. 1753 (Fig. 3).During the second visit, on 3 February, we found a group of P. lucianii feeding on guava fruit at the same location again.On this occasion, photographic and song records as well as behavioral observations were carried out.After the group fed on the fruits, we observed their displacement to an area of salt deposition.The salt was used to compliment the feed for the cattle herd on the property and it was placed in a wooden trough in the open, half a meter from the ground.The parakeet group remained on the ground for around 15 minutes and then moved to the edge of the forest, 50 m from the location.The trough remains exposed under the sun and heavy rains that dissolve and carry the salt to the ground, where the birds consumed it.The owner stated that the birds regularly visit his backyard and that they feed on other fruit trees in the area.Questioned with regards to Pyrrhura parakeets consuming the salt, he informed us that the birds often visit the trough and the ground, and that no other bird had been seen consuming salt at the site.

Discussion
This is the first record of P. lucianii for Acre State, extending its distribution by 219 km to the south from the closest record, located in the municipality of Pauini, in the south of Amazonas State (Laranjeiras 2013, Fig. 1).The species possibly occurs further in adjacent Peru and Bolivia.Our record is the first for terra firme forest, because P. lucianii had only been recorded in flooded forests previously, and its presence on terra firme was only presumed (del Hoyo et al. 2017).
The intentional consumption of soil, or geophagy, is not a new phenomenon among vertebrates.Various groups of birds exhibit this behavior (Emmons and Stark 1979, Wink et al. 1993, Diamond et al. 1999, Burger and Gochfeld 2003) and several theories have attempted to explain their benefits for birds, including: mechanically assisting digestion (Best and Gionfriddo 1991), balancing pH (Kreulen 1985, Mahaney et al. 1999), alleviating diarrhea (Oates 1978, Vermeer and Ferrell 1985, Mahaney et al. 1995b, Mahaney et al. 1996), adsorbing toxins in the diet (Kreulen 1985, Diamond et al. 1999, Mahaney et al. 1999), and mineral supplementation (Kreulen andJaeger 1984, Klaus andSchmid 1998).Brightsmith and Munõz-Najar (2004) tested 3 of these theories (mechanically assisting digestion, adsorbing toxins in the diet, and mineral supplementation) for Psittacidae, Columbidae, and Cracidae in the region below the Tambopata river in Peru and showed that the birds chose more saline soils with a higher concentration of exchangeable sodium.
In this study, we did not classify the behavior observed as geophagy sensu strictu.Here, it is most properly defined as consumption of salt and also salt water, an unusual and uncommon behavior among birds (Packard 1946).A similar behavior, that is, obtaining salt from a trough located in a pasture, has been reported for the House sparrow Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mousley 1921, Calhoun 1944) and various other species of birds in the United States and Canada (Mousley 1921, 1946, Packard 1946).Based in our observation, Pyrrhura species also have this feeding behavior.The consumption of salt water originating from continental rocks has been also reported for parakeets and other birds in Papua New Guinea (Symes et al. 2005).The record of P. lucianii in an area of transition between pasture and forest indicates also that this species visits the area in search of fruits cul- tivated by man, as well as to consume salt at the property, suggesting that species has some flexibility to habitat disturbances.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Pyrrhura lucianii distribution map, showing the records in Tefé-AM (type locality), Pauni-AM (the closest record), and the new record in Acre state.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Main differences between Pyrrhura lucianii (A), P. roseifrons (B), and P. rupicola (C).The main difference between P. lucianii and the others is the head and belly colour pattern.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Photographic records of Pyrrhura lucianii at Fazenda União.Feeding on the fruit of the guava tree (Psidium guajava) (A).Flock landing on the ground and consuming salt (B).