Vulturine Parrot
Pyrilia vulturina
Medium-sized, largely green parrot with a striking head pattern. The head is featherless with a combination of orange, black, and yellow bristles. Note the orange shoulder and, in flight, the red underwings. Found in the canopy of humid forest. Call is a distinctive nasal series of “tree ... trayaweet” notes.
Identification
The vulturine parrot is 23 to 25 cm (9.1 to 9.8 in) long and weighs 138 to 165 g (4.9 to 5.8 oz). The adult's face is mostly bare black skin, with yellowish lores and a collar of yellow feathers and a band of black feathers below that. Their upperparts are green with a reddish orange shoulder. Their breast is olive-yellow, their belly green with some blue edges to the feathers, and their lower thighs yellow. Their primaries are black with green edges and their carpal's edges and underwing coverts are red. Their tail's upper surface is green with blue tips and the lower surface green and yellow. Immature birds have green feathered heads with yellowish around the lores and eye and without the adult's yellow collar.
Taxonomy
Until about 1970 the vulturine parrot had been treated as the only member of genus Gypopsitta before being moved into Pionositta with the pileated parrot (P. pileata) and six other parrots species. All but the pileated parrot were moved into genus Pyrilia in the early 21st century.<p>In 2002, what had been thought to be the immature plumage of the vulturine parrot was determined to be a separate species, the bald parrot (Pyrilia aurantiocephala).<p>The vulturine parrot is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Pyrilia vulturina
- Authority
- (Kuhl, 1820)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Pyrilia
Range and habitat
The vulturine parrot is found in Brazil south of the Amazon River from the Madeira River east to near the Atlantic coast in Maranhão. It inhabits both fairly dry terra firme and seasonally flooded várzea forests.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The vulturine parrot's movements, if any, are not known.<p>Little is known about the vulturine parrot's foraging behavior or diet, but it is suspected that the bare head is an adaptation to avoid feather-matting from large sticky fruits.<p>Nothing is known about the vulturine parrot's breeding biology.<p>The vulturine parrot's flight call is "a slightly nasal rhythmic “tree ... trayaweet” or simply “trayaweet”." It makes "a wide variety of calls, ranging from nasal yelps or barks to more melodious whistles and whining sounds, as well as more typically parrot-like calls" when perched.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
European Storm-Petrel
Hydrobates pelagicus
Tiny black seabird with rounded tail tip, white rump, and white stripe on underside of wing. Like many other storm-petrels, can be fairly common but mainly offshore and rarely seen; breeds on rocky islands where it visits colonies at night. Feeds out at sea, sometimes following ships and fluttering fast and low in the wake (like a bumblebee). In direct comparison, appears about half the size of Leach’s Storm-Petrel, which has much stronger, bounding flight. Winters at sea in South Atlantic.
Rufous Woodpecker
Micropternus brachyurus
Odd medium-sized brownish woodpecker with a short dark bill. Overall coloration and wing markings vary considerably across a wide range. Males have a red patch under the eye. Gives a range of loud, insistent calls, including a sharp “weep weep weep!” Distinctive drum accelerates then trails off. Forages throughout the levels of the forest, often with mixed-species flocks. Frequently drills into ant nests.
Noisy Friarbird
Philemon corniculatus
Large gray-brown honeyeater with a completely bare black head and a distinctive "horn" on the bill. Upperparts are gray and underparts are dull white. Completely bare head is unique among the friarbirds. Typically very loud; emits a variety of harsh, loud squawks. Inhabits a wide range of habitats in eastern Australia, including (especially) open forests and gardens and parks, where it is common.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.