Orange-cheeked Parrot
Pyrilia barrabandi
Medium-sized, boldly colored parrot of lowland rainforest. Black head with white eye patch and orange cheek is unique. Spectacular red, yellow, and blue wing patches are obvious in flight and contrast against its green body. Mostly found in upland forest, where it typically travels in pairs and small groups. Regularly visits clay licks. Call, usually given in flight, is similar to that of the more common Blue-headed Parrot, but the call is a cleaner, more pleasant “CUEET.”
Identification
The parrots are 25 cm (9.8 in) in size and weigh 165–190 g (5.8–6.7 oz).<p>Adults have an olive throat and breast. The thighs are yellow, with the bend of the wing and lesser wing coverts ranging from yellow to orange, and the carpal edge and underwing coverts being orange to red. The tips of the tail and the wing feathers are blue. P.b. aurantiigena has deep orange cheeks, bend of wing, underwing and lesser wing coverts, and thighs, lacking the yellow possessed by barrabandi. They have a black head and orange to yellow cheeks, with a distinctive white eye-ring around a brown eye. The beak is gray to black.<p>Juveniles have a brown crown and olive forehead, nape, cheeks and chin, with a brown margin. The bend of the wings and lesser wing coverts are green with a scattered yellow. The carpal edge and underwing coverts are red with scattered green feathers.<p>Distinctive calls that are reedy and slurred in flight. They have guttural alarm calls.
Taxonomy
The binomial name of this bird commemorates the French painter Jacques Barraband. It was formerly placed in the genus Pionopsitta.<p>There are two subspecies:<p>P.b. barrabandi- Found north of the upper Amazon River from east Amazonas, northern Brazil and southern Venezuela to southeast Colombia, eastern Ecuador and northeastern Peru.<p>P.b. aurantiigena- Found south of the upper Amazon River from northern Brazil to eastern Peru and northern Bolivia.
- Scientific name
- Pyrilia barrabandi
- Authority
- (Kuhl, 1820)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Pyrilia
Range and habitat
It is found in northwestern Brazil, western Ecuador and Peru, southern Venezuela and Colombia, and extreme northern Bolivia. They are found at elevations of up to 400 m (1,300 ft) in lowland terra firme forest and uncommonly in varzea stands. They also inhabit forest edges and partly disturbed forests.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Ovambo Sparrowhawk
Accipiter ovampensis
Medium-sized sparrowhawk that is normally gray, but there is a rare black morph. In all plumages, shows diagnostic white streaks along the central part of the tail, but these are hard to see. The legs and the base of the bill are yellow to reddish. On the typical gray birds, there is gray barring below which is finer and denser on the chest and throat than in other gray sparrowhawks. Generally rare in thick woodland, savanna, plantations, and gallery forest. Call is a repeated “chyek.”
Eared Quetzal
Euptilotis neoxenus
Scarce, large trogon of pine and pine-oak forests in mountains and canyons of northwest Mexico. Usually rather wary, flying long distances when disturbed, but can be found feeding quietly at fruiting trees. Often perches with a hunchbacked posture. Note the rather small head with a grayish bill and mostly white underside to the tail. The "ears" are fine plumes on the sides of the head, rarely visible in the field. Also note the distinctive calls, very different from other trogons.
Yellow-fronted Woodpecker
Melanerpes flavifrons
Multicolored, gregarious medium-sized woodpecker. Note black wings, tail, and mask, yellow forehead and eyering, white rump, and red belly bordered with dark bars. Males have a red crown and neck, which is black in females. Found in moist forests, second growth and sometimes plantations. The call is a loud “kiki-kiki-kirikiki.”
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