Vorstman's Guideto the birds of the Andes and West Coast

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African and New World parrots | Psittacidae

Papegaaien | Loros | African and New World parrots

The parrots of Africa and those of the New World together form this family; in the Andes and along the west coast it numbers 87 species in twenty-six genera, from small parakeets (Brotogeris, Forpus) through the amazons (Amazona) to the large macaws (Ara), such as Scarlet Macaw and Great Green Macaw. The plumage is mainly green, with red, yellow, blue or white on the head, wing or tail; the sexes usually look much alike. High in the Andes live species of their own, such as the mountain parakeets (Bolborhynchus, Psilopsiagon) and the Yellow-eared Parrot (Ognorhynchus), which in the Colombian Andes depends on wax palms. The strong, hooked bill cracks hard seeds and stones, often still unripe, and fruit, blossom and nectar are taken as well; the foot serves as a hand to hold food. The flight is fast and direct, with shallow beats, and comes with shrill, far-carrying calls that nearly always give the birds away before they can be seen. They live in pairs within flocks that move morning and evening between communal roosts and feeding trees, and nest in a tree hole, a few parakeets in a termite nest; usually the female alone incubates and is fed by the male. Several species are threatened by deforestation and capture for the cage-bird trade.

Native species 85 species

Species that occur here by nature: breeding birds, winter visitors and passage migrants. They are arranged by genus, in the sequence of the list.

Ognorhynchus 1 species

Bolborhynchus 3 species

Nannopsittaca 1 species

Deroptyus 1 species

Forpus 6 species

Leptosittaca 1 species

Diopsittaca 1 species

Graydidascalus 1 species

Pyrrhura 10 species

Eupsittula 2 species

Ara 8 species

Touit 5 species

Brotogeris 6 species

Psilopsiagon 2 species

Myiopsitta 1 species

Pionites 2 species

Amazona 10 species

Anodorhynchus 1 species

Psittacara 4 species

Hapalopsittaca 4 species

Aratinga 2 species

Primolius 2 species

Orthopsittaca 1 species

Thectocercus 1 species

Pyrilia 4 species

Pionus 5 species

Vagrants 2 species

Birds blown in from other continents. They have no range here, and so no distribution map.