Brown-hooded Parrot
Pyrilia haematotis
Medium-sized, rather chunky parrot of humid tropical lowlands. Found in rainforest and edge, where easily overlooked in the canopy, feeding quietly on fruits. Most often seen in fast direct flight, low over the canopy in pairs or small groups. In flight, armpits show brilliant red, but often birds are flying too fast to see this. On perched birds, note the brown head (small red ear patch is rarely visible), pale spectacles, and very pale bill.
Identification
The brown-hooded parrot is 21 to 23 cm (8.3 to 9.1 in) long and weighs 145 to 150 g (5.1 to 5.3 oz). Adults have a reddish brown crown, ear coverts, and throat, a pinkish red patch behind the eye, and white nares and eye ring. Their nape and breast are dull olive-yellow and their flanks red. Most of the rest of their body is green, with blue on the wing edge, blackish blue on the flight feathers, and blue on the tips of the tail feathers. Subspecies P. h. coccinicollaris adds some pinkish red below the dark throat that sometimes extends around the neck. Immature birds are much like adults but with a paler head, no red patch behind the eye, and a greener breast.
Taxonomy
The brown-hooded 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 brown-hooded and rose-faced parrot (Pyrilia pulchra) have at times been treated as conspecific and are now considered sister species. <p>The brown-hooded parrot has two subspecies, the nominate P. h. haematotis (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1860) and P. h. coccinicollaris (Lawrence, 1862). The latter has at times been suggested as a separate species but this treatment has not been accepted.
- Scientific name
- Pyrilia haematotis
- Authority
- (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1860)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Pyrilia
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of the brown-hooded parrot is found from Veracruz and Oaxaca in southeastern Mexico south on the Caribbean slope through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua and thence on both slopes in Costa Rica and western Panama. P. h. coccinicollaris is found from approximately the Panama Canal into northwestern Colombia's Chocó, Antioquia, and Córdoba departments. The species inhabits the canopy and edges of humid evergreen forest, cloudforest, and mature secondary forest. In elevation it mostly ranges from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) but occurs as high as 1,900 m (6,200 ft).
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Behavior
Migration pattern: Vertical migration.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Orangequit
Euneornis campestris
A small inhabitant of moist woodlands where it feeds on nectar and fruit. Note the short and slightly down-curved bill. Males are glossy plumbeous blue with a brick-orange throat but can appear black in poor lighting. Females have a warm brown back that contrasts with a deep gray crown. The Jamaican Euphonia is superficially similar, but has a stubby bill and a greenish back. Vocalizations include a high, thin “tsit-tsit,” with the second note louder and higher in pitch, plus a thin, descending whistled “tsee-uh.”
Reddish Hermit
Phaethornis ruber
Tiny and charismatic hermit hummingbird. Note a very contrasting black mask. Dark-olive above and cinnamon below and on the rump. Males have an incomplete black breast band and a shorter tail and wings than females. Common in the lower strata of forests and forest edges where it is fond of Heliconia flowers.
Golden-crowned Woodpecker
Chloropicus xantholophus
A large, long-billed woodpecker with an olive back, a bold facial pattern, and heavily marked underparts. The crown is black in the female and yellow in the male, though this yellow patch can be difficult to see. Found in rainforest and secondary forest at low and middle elevations. Calls include a fast whinnying call, a sharp “kwip,” and a series of similar notes. Also gives a distinctive drum that lasts about 3 seconds, beginning fast and then slowing. Similar to Bearded and Fire-bellied Woodpeckers, but there is very little overlap in range; Golden-crowned can be separated from Bearded by the unbarred back and from Fire-bellied by the lack of a red belly. Males further distinguished by their yellow crown.
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