Red-bellied Parrot
Poicephalus rufiventris
A chunky, mid-sized parrot with a big bill and a short tail. Males have a large orange patch on the underparts and underwings. Females are much plainer. Found in savanna and woodland habitat, often around fruiting trees, usually in pairs. The calls include screaming notes and quieter whistles. Similar to Meyer’s and Brown-headed Parrots, but males separated by the orange in their plumage, and females by their lack of a yellow underwing patch.
Identification
The red-bellied parrot is a small parrot about 23 cm (9 in) long and weights 140 g (5 oz). It is a mostly greenish and grey bird with the green being more prominent over its lower surfaces and the grey more prominent over its upper surfaces. Adult birds have green feathers covering the upper portions of their legs, red irises and dark grey beaks. The species is sexually dimorphic; Typically, males have a bright orange lower chest and abdomen, whilst adult females are greenish on these lower areas. The dimorphism occurs from a young age and is seen even in young chicks still in the nest.The red-bellied parrot eats seed, fruit kernels, flowers, nectar, and periodically leaves, bark, and juice from hard fruits.Although the name red-bellied parrot implies that the parrot has hints of red, the word for the color orange was not introduced into the English language until after the fruit orange was discovered and named, so some animals which are colored orange by our current definition were named red due to the fact that a word for the color orange didn't exist in English.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Poicephalus rufiventris
- Authority
- (Rüppell, 1842)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Poicephalus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Singing Parrot
Geoffroyus heteroclitus
A mostly green medium-sized parrot with a contrasting head, gray in females and yellow in males. Shows a blue underwing in flight. Inhabits lowland forest edge, including coconut plantations, parks, and gardens, up to at least 1750 meters of elevation. Bulkier than Cardinal, White-naped, Yellow-bibbed, and Purple-bellied Lories, with slower wingbeats, and lacks the mostly red color of those species. The similar Eclectus Parrot is larger with a bigger bill, and male is also green but has a red underwing. Singing Parrot’s voice includes a wide variety of harsh cries and a whistling bell-like song.
Lesser Adjutant
Leptoptilos javanicus
A large stork with a completely bare head and neck ideal for its scavenging habits. The adult’s face is red and the neck is yellow while the juvenile has a brownish head and a white, thinly-feathered neck. The upperparts are all dark while the underparts are mostly white. In flight, note the broad wings with distinctive white “armpits” and tucked in neck. Similar to the larger Greater Adjutant; Lesser has a more slender bill, has all-dark upperwings, and often adopts a more upright, less “hunched” posture. Often found in shallow marshes, fields, and swamps.
White-bellied Tody-Tyrant
Hemitriccus griseipectus
Tiny short-tailed flycatcher of lowland rainforest midstory. Olive-gray above, white below; grayer above and paler underneath than similar small canopy species like Dwarf Tyrant-Manakin and greenlets. Calls constantly throughout the day but still hard to see as it perches motionless on a branch until buzzing to a new perch. Listen for its distinctive short hiccuping call: “ta-teek”.
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