Brown-backed Parrotlet
Touit melanonotus
Small parrot with a short, squared tail that has red outer tail feathers with a black band across the tips. Mostly green with a brown patch on the back and pale gray flanks. Note the orange eyering. Inhabits the canopy of humid forests including on lower montane slopes. Golden-tailed Parrotlet, which is more of a lowland species lacks the eyering, has more of an orangey face, and has a less sharp call than Brown-backed Parrotlet.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Touit melanonotus
- Authority
- (Wied-Neuwied, M, 1820)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Touit
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
It is mostly known from lower montane evergreen forest at 500–1,200 metres (1,600–3,900 ft), but also up to 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in the Itatiaia National Park. In addition it is found in near sea-level in Bahia and São Paulo. Seasonal migration or dispersal is suspected, though this may amount to little more than short altitudinal movements. Food items are poorly studied but include large leguminous seeds, fruit of Rapanea acuminata, Clusia sp. and mistletoes. Observed feeding on Clusia criuva where presumed adults pluck the fruit from the tree snipping the stalk with their bills and carry the fruit to a more secure location on a firmer branch where they open the fruitwith their bill wedging it against the branch prising the seeds out with their tongue; they do not use their feet at any time in the feeding process as some other psittacids do. Some individuals that were presumed to be young birds were seen to eat the fruits in situ and did not pluck them. Breeding is suspected to occur from September to October. Well grown young birds were observed being fed by adults in Ubatuba, São Paulo state, January 2010. Young birds can be differentiated by their paler orbital ring and their cere being flesh coloured as opposed to dark grey in adults.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Knobbed Hornbill
Rhyticeros cassidix
A huge black hornbill with a prominent knob on the bill, conspicuous red “gills” on the sides of the beak, a turquoise-blue throat pouch, and a white tail. Males have a red casque and rufous neck, females a yellow knob and black neck. Juveniles resemble male, but with an entirely yellow casqueless bill. Found in pairs or groups in canopy of forested and wooded areas of lowlands and hills. Larger and more colorful than Sulawesi Hornbill. Gives powerful, short “krok” notes and a more drawn-out “oooo-aa-ooo-aaa.”
Red-eared Firetail
Stagonopleura oculata
Plump, tiny, short-tailed bird, olive above, blackish with white-spotted belly below, with a bright red bill. Very dark between eyes and bill (lores), with a pale eyering and a tiny red patch behind the eye. Juvenile plain, similar to Beautiful Firetail of southeastern Australia. Red-browed Firetail (introduced in the Perth Hills) lacks marking below and lacks dark lores. Inhabits dense vegetation beside streams around in southwestern Western Australia.
Blue-crowned Parakeet
Thectocercus acuticaudatus
Bright green bird with blue crown and face, distinct white eyering and long, pointed tail. Native to lowland dry forest and scrub in South America; introduced to urban areas in south Florida, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii. Often seen in small flocks; can travel large distances between roosts and feeding areas. Listen for high-pitched grating calls.
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