Maroon-faced Parakeet
Pyrrhura leucotis
Handsome and gregarious parakeet with a long, pointed tail. A colorful parakeet with a brown crown, a blue nape, blue flight feathers, a maroon face with whitish ears, and a maroon belly, shoulders and undertail. Inhabits the canopy and edges of humid forests and woodlands.
Identification
The white-eared parakeet is 23 to 25 cm (9.1 to 9.8 in) long. The sexes are the same. Adults have a light brown crown, a bluish forehead and hindneck, a maroon face, and whitish ear coverts. Their upperparts are mostly green with a reddish rump. Their chin, throat, and the sides of their neck are green with light buff scaling. The center of their belly is brownish red and the rest of their underparts are green. Their wing is mostly green with a red shoulder and blue flight feathers. Their tail is brownish red with a duller underside. Immatures are similar to adults.
Taxonomy
The white-eared parakeet is monotypic. However, what are now the Venezuelan parakeet (P. emma), the grey-breasted parakeet (P. griseipectus), and Pfrimer's parakeet (P. pfrimeri) were all at one time treated as subspecies of it.
- Scientific name
- Pyrrhura leucotis
- Authority
- (Kuhl, 1820)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Pyrrhura
Range and habitat
The white-eared parakeet is found in eastern Brazil where it occurs from Bahia south to Rio de Janeiro state. It inhabits the interior and edges of tropical evergreen forest, clearings with scattered trees, and also shaded cacao plantations. In elevation it ranges from sea level to about 600 m (2,000 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The white-eared parakeet is mostly sedentary but is thought to make some dispersive movements.<p>The white-eared parakeet feeds primarily on seeds and fruits but also includes berries, nuts, and possibly insects and flowers in its diet.<p>Nothing is known about the white-eared parakeet's breeding biology in the wild. In captivity it lays a clutch of five to nine eggs; the female alone incubates for 27 days and fledging occurs about five weeks after hatch.<p>The white-eared parakeet's call is a "very high, rather thin, rapid 'wee-wee-wee- -' or 'tic-tic-tic- -'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Southern Citril
Crithagra hyposticta
Small seedeater with a sharp bill and forked tail. The upperparts are olive-green and the underparts pale yellow with some streaking. Males and females are similar. Found at middle and high elevations in a variety of habitats, including forest edge, gardens, cultivation, moist scrub, and woodland. Usually in small flocks. The song is a fast jumble of high-pitched twitters and whistles. Similar to Western Citril, but there is virtually no overlap in range, and further separated by the lack of a strong pale eyebrow, and the lack of a black face on the male.
Northern Emerald-Toucanet
Aulacorhynchus prasinus
Medium-sized, grass-green toucan of humid tropical forest in foothills and highlands; also very locally in lowlands. Usually in pairs or small groups, moving through the canopy or feeding at fruiting trees. Nothing similar in its range. Note the rusty tail tips, best seen from below. Pattern of black and yellow on bill varies from region to region.
Chestnut Forest Rail
Rallicula rubra
A smallish rail of montane forest. Deep chestnut color. Male has a chestnut back with some black wing feathers, while the female has all black wings covered with white dots. Flutters wings when alarmed, flashing white dots. Forages very actively, even frantically, tossing leaves and moss aside to uncover invertebrates. Similar to White-striped and Forbes’s Forest-Rails, but Chestnut is smaller and the male has no white mark’s or fully dark wings, and female has spotted rear flanks. Calls, harsh raspy notes or squeaks.
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