Plain Parakeet
Brotogeris tirica
Small and uniformly green parakeet with a long pointed tail and a pinkish bill and feet. In flight, the blue outer wing feathers and tail tips are visible. Usually seen in noisy groups foraging in a variety of habitats including the canopy and edge of humid forests, plantations, and agricultural landscapes. Common in and around cities.
Identification
The plain parakeet is 23 to 25 cm (9.1 to 9.8 in) long and weighs about 63 g (2.2 oz). Adults have an essentially all green body, though their nape has a bluish tinge and their undersides have a yellowish one. Their shoulder is bronzy or brownish green and their flight feathers and the underside of their tail are bluish green. Their bill is pinkish with a paler base. Immature birds are similar to adults but with less blue in the wings and a shorter tail. The population in São Paulo state has many individuals with a blue mutation.
Taxonomy
The plain parakeet was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other parrots in the genus Psittacus and coined the binomial name Psittacus tirica. The type locality was subsequently designated as Brazil. The plain parakeet is now placed with seven other parakeets in genus Brotogeris that was introduced in 1825 by Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek brotogērus meaning "with human voice". The specific epithet tirica is from the Tupi language tiriba meaning "tinkling". The word was used for a parakeet. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognized.
- Scientific name
- Brotogeris tirica
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Brotogeris
Range and habitat
The plain parakeet is found in eastern Brazil from Alagoas south to Santa Catarina with an isolated population in Rio Grande do Sul. It inhabits the Atlantic Forest biome, where it occurs in secondary forest, cultivated land with groves of trees, plantations, and urban parks. It is common in cities "including the huge metropolises of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo". Towards the higher elevations inland it also is found in the edges and canopy of montane rainforest. In elevation it is mostly in the lowlands but can be found as high as 1,200 m (3,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The plain parakeet makes some local seasonal movements, but they are not fully defined.<p>A plain parakeet feeds mainly on seeds, fruit, flowers, and nectar from a very wide variety of plants and trees. It also takes some adult and larval insects.<p>The plain parakeet's breeding season is believed to be from September to December but possibly begins earlier and ends later. It nests in cavities in trees. In captivity the clutch size is four eggs, the incubation period about 26 days, and fledging at seven weeks after hatch.<p>The plain parakeet's calls include "a rather high-pitched shrill “cree” or bisyllabic “cra-creep”, and a lower-pitched, harsh-sounding “cra-cra-cra”" that are given both from a perch and in flight. Members of a flock often call simultaneously.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Checker-throated Woodpecker
Chrysophlegma mentale
Ornate medium-sized woodpecker. Moss-green with blood-red wings and neck. Back edge of head and neck are brightened by a sunny yellow crest. Black-and-white “checker” throat is not particularly obvious. Prefers mature lowland and hill forests; seldom seen in secondary growth or sparsely-vegetated edge. Typically forages at mid-levels of forest, frequently singly but also in mixed flocks or pairs. Gives loud, insistent “nyeh” notes and a strident “choo-yik!”
Visayan Fantail
Rhipidura albiventris
A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of forest from the lowlands to low elevations in the mountains in the west-central Philippines. Dull blue on the head, chest, back, and shoulder, with some paler blue streaking on the chest and crown. Has a white belly and a rufous lower back, outer tail feathers, and wing, with dark central tail feathers and a dark edge to the wing. Often cocks and fans tail while foraging. Similar to Black-naped Monarch, but has rufous rump and tail. Voice is a single, nasal “jep” note given at intervals or sped up into a rapid series.
Barratt's Warbler
Bradypterus barratti
A skulky, dull brown warbler with a long and graduated tail, a pale grayish eyebrow, and a throat that is lightly streaked. It creeps around mouse-like in thick undergrowth and tangles in forest and forest edge. It is also found in isolated pockets of scrub, often adjacent to streams, and is frequently detected and identified by its song, mostly delivered between September and December: 2-3 sweet “tsiit” notes followed by a loud trill of 15-20 harsh “tchui” notes. It also has a strident chipping alarm call “tddd-ddr-ddr-ddr-ddr-tt.” The similar Knysna Warbler differs from Barratt’s Warbler by its shorter tail, darker underparts, less pronounced throat streaking, and different song.
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