Rose-faced Parrot
Pyrilia pulchra
Beautiful parrot found in Andean cloud forest in western Ecuador and western Colombia. Green with golden breast and neck, and a red face bordered with black. Nothing similar occurs in range. Most often encountered flying rapidly overhead in small flocks that give piercing shrieks. Feeds on fruiting trees, usually high in the canopy, but sometimes descends lower where there is abundant food.
Identification
The rose-faced parrot is 21.5 to 23 cm (8.5 to 9.1 in) long. Adults have a reddish brown crown and are pinkish rose from their lores across most of their face. Their nape and breast are dull olive-yellow. Most of the rest of their body is green, with orange and yellow on the bend of the wing, mostly black flight feathers, and blue on the tips of the tail feathers. Their bill is pale creamy whitish. Immature birds are much like adults but with limited rose on the face.
Taxonomy
The rose-faced parrot and the other six members of genus Pyrilia were until the early 21st century included in genus Pionopsitta with the pileated parrot (P. pileata). The rose-faced parrot has at times been treated as a subspecies of the brown-hooded parrot (Pyrilia haematotis) and they are now considered sister species. The rose-faced parrot is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Pyrilia pulchra
- Authority
- (Berlepsch, 1897)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Pyrilia
Range and habitat
The rose-faced parrot is found from the central part of Colombia's Chocó Department south through western Ecuador into El Oro Province. It inhabits humid to wet forest, mature secondary forest, plantations, and more open areas with scattered trees. In forest it tends to stay in the canopy. In elevation it mostly occurs below 1,200 m (3,900 ft) but locally is found as high as 2,100 m (6,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The rose-faced parrot might make some seasonal movements but details are lacking.<p>Almost nothing is known about the rose-faced parrot's feeding behavior or diet, but it has been recorded eating small fruit and cultivated bananas.<p>The rose-faced parrot breeds between January and March in the northern part of its range and in November-December in the south. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.<p>The rose-faced parrot's flight call is "a harsh, far-carrying 'shreek! shreek!'." It also makes "mostly harsh calls and various gurgling and squeaking notes" when perched.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Andean Lapwing
Vanellus resplendens
Large, boldly patterned shorebird of high Andean bogs, wetlands, and lakeshores; also ranges into grassy pastures in the northern part of its range. Usually in pairs or loose flocks, feeding with typical stop-start action of plovers. Little or no range overlap with Southern Lapwing of lowlands and foothills. Note dove-gray head and breast (no crest) and pink bill and legs (duller on immature). In flight shows bold black-and-white pattern on wings and tail. Often noisy, especially when flushed.
Northern Hawk Owl
Surnia ulula
Unique medium-sized owl of the boreal forest. Remarkably long-tailed for an owl; reminiscent of a small hawk in flight with quick, snappy wingbeats. Pale eyes give it an angry look. Brownish overall with white spotting above, barred underparts, and spotted crown. Feeds on small rodents by sight and sound. Often seen perched on the very top of a spruce tree or snag, surveying the surrounding landscape for prey. When rodent populations crash, large numbers of Northern Hawk Owls can move south of their normal range.
Connecticut Warbler
Oporornis agilis
Large, skulky, seldom-seen warbler. Lemon-yellow below and olive-brown above with a gray hood and complete white eyering. Female slightly duller than male. Immature has brownish hood, not gray, and is usually duller yellow below. Breeds in boggy forest with spruce or tamarack. In migration, typically found very low in dense tangles and thickets, where it walks along branches or on the ground. Especially look for weedy fields at the edge of forest, often with dense thickets, goldenrod, and jewelweed. A late spring migrant; in fall, mostly departs the U.S. by early October and flies nonstop to South America, but wintering range is not well-known. Compare with Mourning Warbler and immature Common Yellowthroat; look for Connecticut’s complete white eyering, large size, long undertail coverts, and habit of walking instead of hopping.
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