Red-fan Parrot
Deroptyus accipitrinus
Parrot of lowland rainforest; usually looks dark and long-tailed at a distance. At close range, easily told by white crown and diagnostic red-and-blue “fan,” which is usually held flat against the neck but may be extended when birds are excited. Distinctive flapping-and-gliding flight style is unique among Amazonian parrots. Often observed foraging in small groups or perched on bare branches along edges of clearings and along rivers. Most common call a stuttering, grating screech, somewhat similar to Black-headed and White-bellied parrots.
Identification
The red-fan parrot possesses elongated neck feathers that can be raised to form an elaborate fan, which greatly increases the bird's apparent size, and is possibly used when threatened. It generally lives in undisturbed forest, feeding in the canopy on fruits. It has a dark brown face with white streaks, bare black patch round its brown eye, green wings, flanks and tail and red and blue barred breast.
Taxonomy
The red-fan parrot was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other parrots in the genus Psittacus and coined the binomial name Psittacus accipitrinus. Linnaeus based his description on the "hawk-headed parrot" that had been described and illustrated in 1751 by the English naturalist George Edwards in the fourth volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Linnaeus mistakenly specified the type locality as India. It was redesignated as Cayenne in French Guiana by Carl Hellmayr in 1905. The red-fan parrot is now the only species placed in the genus Deroptyus that was introduced in 1832 by the German naturalist Johann Wagler. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek derē meaning "neck" with ptuon meaning "fan". The specific epithet accipitrinus is from Latin and means "hawk-like".<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Deroptyus accipitrinus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Deroptyus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The bird nests in holes in trees and stumps. Two to three eggs are normally laid, hatching after approximately 26 days. The young start to fledge in the wild at approximately 10 weeks old. Only two nests have been examined in the wild; both had one chick.<p>It is not considered threatened, but is listed on CITES Appendix II (as are most parrots not listed on Appendix I).
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Purple-crowned Fairywren
Malurus coronatus
A small bird with a long blue tail that is held cocked. Breeding male has a bright purple crown with black eye line and collar. Female has prominent dark rusty cheek patches. Nonbreeding male has prominent black cheek patches. This species prefers riverside habitat, particularly when it includes Pandanus (screw-palm) and long grassy vegetation.
Katanga Masked-Weaver
Ploceus katangae
This red-eyed masked-weaver has a plain olive-green back and pink-brown legs. The breeding male has a black face mask, with the black band on the forehead above the bill varying from broad in the south to narrow farther north. Female and juvenile are dull and inseparable from other masked-weavers. Pairs and colonies are localized residents of reedbeds, wetlands and adjacent woodland, in a narrow global range between northeastern Zambia and southeastern DRC. The breeding males of Katanga and Southern masked-weavers are very similar, but the former are smaller, have some saffron around the masks, and have darker green backs and rumps; breeding male Tanganyika and Lake Lufira Masked-Weavers have more burnt-orange around the face and underparts, and ranges do not overlap.
St. Lucia Warbler
Setophaga delicata
This small brightly colored bird feeds actively within middle to upper levels of forests. The combination of blue-gray upperparts, extensively yellow underparts, white wingbars, and bold facial pattern are unique within its range. The song is variable, but always consists of a series of rich notes and often ends in “which-you.” The call is a single loud sweet chip.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.