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Black-winged Parrot | Hapalopsittaca melanotis
Zwartvleugelpapegaai | Lorito alinegro | Papagaio-de-asa-preta
The Black-winged Parrot is the largest and southernmost of the Hapalopsittaca parrots. It lives in humid montane forest on the eastern slope of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia and wanders in groups up and down the slopes, depending on the supply of fruit. The black band across the wing is visible both at rest and in flight.
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Voice
High, shrill, somewhat rasping calls in flight; groups are often silent while feeding.
Recording: Niels Krabbe — CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
24 cm, stocky, with a short tail and a pale bill. The plumage is green, with a grey-blue tinge on the head. Behind the eye there is a dark ear patch. A broad black band runs across the wing coverts and the flight feathers are dark blue. The sexes are alike; juveniles are duller, with a less distinct ear patch.
Confusion species
Speckle-faced Parrot Pionus tumultuosus has a pale yellow bill, a plum-red, speckled head and red undertail coverts. Scaly-naped Amazon Amazona mercenarius is larger, with a longer tail, a scaly nape and red in the wing. Red-billed Parrot Pionus sordidus has a red bill and red undertail coverts, and usually lives lower.
Habitat
Humid montane forest and cloud forest on the eastern slope, also forest edges and more open woodland, roughly between 1700 and 3500 m. It eats fruit, seeds and flowers high in the trees. The nest is in a tree cavity.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Peru on the eastern slope in the centre and south, from Huánuco and Pasco to Cusco and Puno. In Bolivia on the eastern slope in La Paz and Cochabamba. Absent from Colombia, Ecuador and the Galápagos.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Look along mountain roads through Yungas forest, such as the Manu road in Peru or the roads through the Yungas of La Paz in Bolivia, for small groups flying fast over the canopy and giving themselves away by their calls.
Conservation status
Least Concern. Much of the montane forest on the eastern slope is still intact; locally forest is lost to clearance.
Scientific name
Hapalopsittaca melanotis | (de Lafresnaye, 1847)
De Lafresnaye described the species in 1847 as Pionus melanotis; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Hapalopsittaca was introduced in 1912 by Ridgway. The genus name comes from Greek hapalos, 'soft, gentle', and psittakē, 'parrot'. The species name comes from Greek melas, 'black', and ous, ōtos, 'ear'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Bolivia.