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Maroon-tailed Parakeet | Pyrrhura melanura
Zwartstaartparkiet | Perico colimarrón | Tiriba-fura-mata
The Maroon-tailed Parakeet is the most widespread Pyrrhura of the north-western Amazon, with isolated forms in the Andes and the Chocó as well. Flocks of five to twenty birds move fast and chattering through the canopy and are often noticed only when they fly off. The dark, scaled breast and the red wing patch are the key features.
Voice
A shrill, harsh, high kee-kee-kee or kree-kree, mainly in flight; flocks in a tree make soft, babbling sounds.
Recording: Juan Freile — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
24 cm, with a long, pointed tail and a dark grey bill. The plumage is mainly green, with a dark brown crown and a bare, whitish eye-ring. The throat and breast are grey-brown with broad pale, whitish to buff feather edges, giving a scaled pattern. The primary coverts are red, edged yellow, forming a patch on the forewing. The tail is dark maroon above and below. The Andean and Chocó forms differ in the width of the scaling and the amount of red in the wing. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Painted Parakeet Pyrrhura picta in Peru has red or blue on the face and a red belly patch. White-breasted Parakeet Pyrrhura albipectus in south-eastern Ecuador has a whitish breast and an orange-yellow ear patch. El Oro Parakeet Pyrrhura orcesi in south-western Ecuador has a red forehead and lacks the pale scaling. Brotogeris parakeets such as Cobalt-winged Parakeet Brotogeris cyanoptera are smaller and short-tailed.
Habitat
Humid lowland forest on terra firme and in flooded areas, foothill forest, the edges of montane forest and secondary forest, in the lowlands mostly below 1000 m; the Andean forms live between about 1600 and 2800 m. It feeds on fruit, seeds and flowers in the canopy. It nests in tree cavities.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in the Amazonian lowlands of the south-east, in the Eastern Andes at the head of the Magdalena valley, and in the south-west on the Pacific side (Nariño). In Ecuador in the Amazonian lowlands and eastern foothills and in the north-west (Esmeraldas, Carchi). In Peru in the northern Amazonian lowlands, north of the Amazon and the Marañón. Absent from Bolivia and the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in southern Venezuela and north-western Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In the lowlands of eastern Ecuador, such as around Sacha and along the Napo, and in the foothills, where flocks forage in the treetops along forest edges and rivers. Watch for fast, chattering flocks flying over the forest.
Conservation status
Not evaluated in this circumscription. In large parts of the Amazonian lowlands the species is fairly common; the Andean and Chocó forms have small ranges and suffer from deforestation.
Scientific name
Pyrrhura melanura | (Spix, 1824)
Spix described the species in 1824 as Aratinga melanurus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Pyrrhura was introduced in 1856 by Bonaparte. The genus name comes from Greek purrhos, 'flame-coloured', and oura, 'tail'. Greek melas, 'black', and oura, 'tail'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Tabatinga, Amazonas, Brazil.