Pileated Parrot
Pionopsitta pileata
Fairly small parrot usually seen in small groups or pairs in the canopy of humid forests, including Araucaria forests. The body is mostly green apart from a blue outer wing and tail feathers. Males have a red forehead and blue shoulder patch while females are mostly all green with brownish ear patches.
Identification
The pileated parrot is 20 to 22 cm (7.9 to 8.7 in) long and weighs 98 to 120 g (3.5 to 4.2 oz). Adults have an essentially all green body, with a yellowish abdomen. Their primaries, primary coverts, and the edges and tips of their tail feathers are dull blue. Males have a red forehead, crown, lores, and upper ear coverts. Females do not have any red but do have a faint blue wash on the forehead and breast. Immature males have less red on the head than adults, and females have less blue on the wings.
Taxonomy
The pileated parrot is the only member of genus Pionopsitta and has no subspecies. However, what are now the seven species in genus Pyrilia were for a long period included in Pionopsitta.<p>A local name for the pileated parrot in Brazilian Portuguese is "cuiú cuiú".
- Scientific name
- Pionopsitta pileata
- Authority
- (Scopoli, 1769)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Pionopsitta
Range and habitat
The pileated parrot is found in southeastern Brazil from Bahia south and into eastern Paraguay and Argentina's Misiones Province. It mostly inhabits humid forest but also occurs in somewhat more open and dryer forest dominated by Araucaria and partially cleared landscapes. In elevation it is found from sea level to 1,500 m (4,900 ft).
- Migration
- Nomadic movement
Behavior
The pileated parrot makes some movements between inland and more coastal areas. It is "strikingly nomadic" at Intervales State Park in Brazil's São Paulo state.<p>Little is known about the pileated parrot's feeding behavior or diet. It is known to feed on fruits and seeds of several families of plants, and also on Eucalyptus bark.<p>The pileated parrot's nesting season is not fully defined but apparently includes November. It nests in holes in trees. In the wild the clutch size appears to be two eggs. In captivity clutches of three to four are typical. In captivity the female alone incubates, for about 24 days, and fledging occurs 52 to 54 days after hatch.<p>The pileated parrot call is "very high, piercing shrieks, like 'tjeéreweét'." Its flight call is a "high 'tjer-tjer'tjer- -'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Cyprus Scops-Owl
Otus cyprius
A small dark owl, intricately marked with black streaks and fine barring. Bright yellow eyes are set in a pale face ringed with black. The ear tufts can be prominent, especially when seen on a day roost, but sometimes are nearly invisible. Found in open woodlands, orchards, and parks. Active at night, when usually detected by monotonously repeated song, a single plaintive hoot that carries quite well. Within its restricted range, can only be confused with Little Owl, but separated by smaller size, ear tufts, and gray rather than brown overall coloration.
Malagasy Palm Swift
Cypsiurus gracilis
A very slender gray-brown swift with a long, deeply forked tail that is often held closed, making it look needle-like and pointed. The erratic flight pattern, with frequent direction changes and rapid wingbeats on long, scythe-shaped wings, is distinctive. Less gregarious than other swifts; usually found in pairs or small flocks, and association with other swallows and swifts is usually only fleeting. Forages over a wide variety of habitats with palms, including savanna, coastal scrub, towns, villages, cultivated areas, forest edge, and clearings, from sea level up to 1100 meters of elevation, preferring lowlands. Nests and roosts in palms, especially Hyphaene, Bismarckia, and coconut palms. Gives a high-pitched, metallic “tre-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit” call, solitarily or in unison with others. Separated from other swifts by its longer and thinner tail. Further separated from the larger Madagascar Swift by its much weaker and more fluttering flight.
Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant
Agriornis montanus
Widespread in the Andes and locally at lower elevations. Favors open and semiopen habitats from rocky and scrubby slopes to bogs and lakeshores; often around villages and ski lodges, where it nests inside buildings. Often seen on prominent perches; can be confiding, but also flies long distances. Identified in most of range by size and extensively white tail. Told from similar but much rarer and slightly bulkier White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant by slender, all-dark bill (pale below on young Black-billed), and pale eyes (darker on young).
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.