Lilac-tailed Parrotlet
Touit batavicus
Small parrot of rainforest regions. Generally uncommon; distinctive black-and green plumage and purple tail render it unmistakable on the rare occasions it is seen well. Often first detected high overhead in large flocks that may bypass observers entirely, or else descend into forest canopy to feed quietly on flowers and fruit. Flight call is a strident, purring squeal.
Identification
The violet-tailed parrotlet is about 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weighs 52 to 72 g (1.8 to 2.5 oz). Its head is mostly yellow with green ear coverts. The sides of its neck are green and its nape has a dusky scaled appearance. Its back and wings are black and its greater wing coverts are yellowish green with green-blue edges and a red carpal bar. Its tail is purplish rose with a black band near the end. Its throat is green, its breast pale blue, its belly green, and its underwing coverts blue.
Taxonomy
The lilac-tailed parrotlet was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-colored plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Psittaca batavica in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. Buffon believed that his specimen had come from Batavia (modern Jakarta) but the German ornithologist Hans von Berlepsch realised this was an error and in 1908 substituted Venezuela as the type locality. The lilac-tailed parrotlet is now placed in the genus Touit that was introduced by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855. The genus name is derived from the extinct Tupi language that was spoken by native people in Brazil: Tuí eté means "really little parrot".<p>The lilac-tailed parrotlet is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Touit batavicus
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Touit
Range and habitat
The violet-tailed parrotlet is found discontinuously across northern South America. The regions include Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, two coastal areas in Venezuela, the island of Trinidad, and a broad swath from eastern Venezuela through Guyana and Suriname and across much of French Guiana. In most of its range it inhabits lowland deciduous forest but in Colombia and the Venezuelan Coastal Range it occurs in cloudforest between 700 and 1,700 m (2,300 and 5,600 ft). It uses both pristine and disturbed primary and secondary forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The violet-tailed parrotlet is non-migratory but appears to be somewhat nomadic.<p>The violet-tailed parrotlet does most of its foraging in the morning. Its diet includes flowers, nectar, buds, berries, seeds, and fruits.<p>The violet-tailed parrotlet's breeding season has not been determined. Fledglings have been noter in December in Suriname and between January and March on Trinidad. The species nests in a cavity such as a hollow limb or one it excavates in an arboreal termite nest. The clutch size is five or six eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.<p>The violet-tailed parrotlet's most common calls are "a slightly nasal “ryee” or “nee-ryee”." Large flocks in flight make "a continuous, monotonous, noisy chattering." It also makes "a very nasal “naaee” or “rrhaaee”" when perched.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Tiny woodpecker, found mostly in light woodlands and at forest edges. Note the short bill, black tail, and white central bar. Rusty-brown on the neck and cheeks, heavily barred front and an olive-green back. The crown is spotted white; males have a red forehead, black in females. The song is a fast trill.
Groove-billed Toucanet
Aulacorhynchus sulcatus
Small green toucan with bluish ocular area and pale bluish-gray throat. Tail tip tinged blue; bill blackish with dark red (Venezuelan Coastal Cordillera) or yellow (Santa Marta and Andes region). Usually in pairs or small groups, moving or feeding in the canopy. Occurs in humid tropical forests in foothills and highlands. Song a repetitive, raspy croak. Distinguished from Emerald Toucanet and Crimson-rumped Toucanet mainly by green undertail coverts and rump and bluish tail tip.
Helmeted Manakin
Chiroxiphia galeata
Males are striking with a mostly glossy black body, but with a red forehead, crest, and back. Females are uniformly olive-green and also crested. Locally common in gallery forests embedded in savannas where it often accompanies mixed-species flocks. The song is a trilling series of alternately soft and loud whistles.
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