Pileated Parrots, Red-capped Parrots

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    The Pileated Parrots or Red-capped Parrots (Pionopsitta pileata) are endemic to north-eastern Argentina, South-eastern Brazil and Paraguay, where they can be found in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest areas.

    Pileated Parrot

    Splendour Parrots

     

    The Pileated Parrot or Red-capped Parrot (Pionopsitta pileata) is endemic to north-eastern Argentina, South-eastern Brazil and Paraguay, where it can be found in subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest areas.

    NOTE: The Australian Red-capped Parrot (Purpureicephalus spurius) is also called the Pileated Parakeet, which leads to an easy confusion with the South American Pionopsitta pileata featured on this page.

    These parrots form noisy flocks of short-tailed parrots that are seen flying high overhead in their characteristically erratic manner.

    They are difficult to spot when perching, as they are well camouflaged by their green plumage and they tend to be silent when foraging up in the canopy. Although, at various times, loud, babbling chatter can be heard from perched flocks.

     

    Pileated ParrotDescription:

    The Pileated Parrots average 8.5 – 8.8 inches (~22 cm) in length and weigh around 3.4 – 4.2 oz (98 – 120 g).

    Male: The plumage is mainly green, except for a distinctive red forehead, crown and red patches in the ear region. They have brown/purple ear coverts (feathers covering the ears) and purple/blue outer lesser underwing coverts. The inner lesser underwing coverts are blue/green. Their green tail is tipped with blue. The bill is green/grey, turning horn-colored towards the tip. They have bare grey eye rings. The eyes are dark brown.

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      Females: Hens lack the red patches of the male. Her crown and lores (the regions between the eyes and bill on the side of a bird’s head) to area around eyes are green. The green forehead is tinted with blue. The brown to her ear-coverts are fainter.

      Juveniles: Young males may have the red colors confined to a thin frontal band with orange/yellow patch behind it. Males may have a reddish tinge to forehead. Young females look like adult hens. The bill is pale horn-colored with a black base.

       

      Calls / Voicing:

      Calls made in flight are rapid and repetitious high-pitched shrieks. Three-syllable series of notes can also be heard at times.

       

      Personality:

      The Splendour Parrots are very quiet in an aviary, with an endearingly friendly and gentle personality. They are highly social and should be kept with a mate or in a group environment. In the wild, Superb Parrots are almost always found in flocks. They acclimatize fairly easily to a new environment and are very hardy … Talking Abilities (compared to other species).

       

      Diet:

      Superb Parrots eat grain, seeds, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables. In the wild, their diet consists mainly of eucalypt flowers, fruits, nectar and pollen.

       

      Breeding Data:

        • Average Clutch: 3 – 4 eggs
        • Incubation period: 24 – 25 days

       

      Taxonomy:

      Genus: Scientific: Pionopsitta … English: Splendour Parrots … Dutch: Prachtpapegaaien … German Zierpapageien … French: Caica … Species: Scientific: Pionopsitta pileata … English: Pileated Parrot, Red-capped Parrot … Dutch: Roodkappapegaai … German: Scharlachkopfpapagei … French: Perroquet mitré … CITES I – Protected Species

      Species Research by Sibylle Johnson

       


       

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        Red-capped Parrots

         




        Rosellas InformationIndex of Rosella SpeciesPhotos of the Different Rosella Species for Identification

        Red-capped Parrot (Purpureicephalus spurius)The Red-capped Parrot or Red-capped Parakeet (Purpureicephalus spurius) is also sometimes referred to as the Pileated Parakeet or King Parrot – leading to confusion with the South American Pileated Parrot (Pionopsitta pileata) and the Australian King Parrot.

        The Red-capped Parrot is a broad-tailed parrot related to the Rosellas that can be found in the southern parts of Western Australia. Their preferred habitat include eucalypt forests and woodland areas, farmland with stands of trees, as well as parks and gardens.

        Description

        The Red-capped Parrot averages 35 – 37cm or 14 – 14.6 inches in length, including its tail; and its weight ranges from 105 – 156g or 3.6 – 5.5 oz.

        The Male Red-capped Parrot: The plumage is dark green except for the distinctive red cap on his head, lime green cheeks and rump, pale purple chest, with red under the tail.

        The female is duller with greyish mauve underside, and may have some green on her crown. Both adult males and females have a blue-grey beak.

        The juvenile looks like the female, except it has a green crown and may have some red on forehead. The bill is horn colored with a dull yellow at the base of lower beak.

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          Purpureicephalus spuriusDiet / Feeding

          Its long bill is adapted to removing seeds from capsules of Eucalypts, particularly the Marri (E. calophylla). They also eat the seeds of other eucalypt trees, casuarinas, grevilleas, hakeas and grasses.

          Breeding / Nesting

          They typically breed in hollows of eucalypt trees, high above the ground.

          The average clutch consists of 4 to 6 white eggs which are incubated about 20 days.

          Calls / Vocalizations

          They make and harsh, sometimes rapid calls, as well as a series of sharp shrieks when alarmed. When defending their territory or nests, they emit a rapid chatter.

          Species Research by Sibylle Johnson


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