Bronze-winged Parrot
Pionus chalcopterus
A medium-sized parrot that usually looks all dark. With a good view, note the deep bluish-purple color overall with bronzy wings, messy pink splotches on the upper breast, and red undertail coverts. In flight, the bright blue underwings often stand out. Also look for the very deep wingbeats that seem to almost touch on the downstroke and barely come above horizontal on the upstroke – this helps separate members of the Pionus genus from the larger Amazona parrots. Bronze-winged is fairly common in forest and adjacent clearings in lowlands and foothills, up to around 2,500m. It is usually found in small flocks, most often seen in flight but also perched in the canopy or around fruiting trees.
Identification
The bronze-winged parrot is mainly dark with a whitish chin patch and its upper chest is speckled with pink feathers. It has short red undertail feathers. The rump, tail and wings are dark blue with lighter blue underwings. The head is dark blue-green; the mantle, back and underparts are dark bronze-green with some blue tipped feathers and sometimes scattered red feathers. Its beak is pale yellow. In adults the ring of bare skin around the eyes is pink. Juveniles have whitish eyerings and their underparts are brownish.
Taxonomy
Today most authorities consider this species as monotypic, but some continue to recognize two subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Pionus chalcopterus
- Authority
- (Fraser, 1841)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Pionus
Range and habitat
The bronze-winged parrot is found in far western Venezuela, western and central Colombia, western Ecuador and far north-western Peru. In Venezuela it mainly occurs at altitudes of 900–1400 m, in Colombia it mainly occurs at altitudes of 1400–2400 m (occasionally as high as 2800 m), in Ecuador mainly below 1400 m, and in Peru below 800 m. It generally prefers the canopy of forest and woodland (both humid and semi-deciduous), but also occurs in adjacent habitats with tall trees. It appears to be rather nomadic in parts of its range, but the movements (possibly only in response to the availability of food) are generally poorly understood.
- Migration
- Nomadic movement
Behavior
It is typically seen in pairs of small groups of up to ten birds.<p>The bronze-winged parrot nests in tree cavities. The eggs are white and there are usually three to four in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 26 days and the chicks leave the nest about 70 days after hatching.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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