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Red-billed Parrot | Pionus sordidus
Roodsnavelmargrietje | Loro piquirrojo | Maitaca-de-bico-vermelho
The Red-billed Parrot is a medium-sized, short-tailed parrot with red undertail coverts and a coral-red bill, found in the lower montane forests of the Andes and coastal ranges. Pairs and flocks fly with deep wingbeats that reach far below the body line, as in all species of the genus Pionus. Of the Pionus parrots in the guide area it is the only one with an entirely red bill.
Voice
A hoarse, harsh call such as kraak-kraak, repeated in flight and audible over long distances. Perched flocks give softer chattering notes.
Recording: Juan Freile — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
28 cm, stocky, with a short, square tail and a coral-red bill. The plumage is dull olive green, with dark feather edges that give a scaly pattern. The head and throat have a blue wash that varies in strength between subspecies, and there is a blue patch on the breast. There is a bare grey ring around the eye. The undertail coverts are red. The sexes are alike. Juveniles are greener, with less blue on the head and a paler bill.
Confusion species
Blue-headed Parrot Pionus menstruus has a bright blue head and breast, a black ear patch and a dark bill with red only at the base, and usually lives lower. Speckle-faced Parrot Pionus tumultuosus has a speckled, purplish red or whitish head and a yellow bill, and lives higher. Bronze-winged Parrot Pionus chalcopterus is dark bluish brown, with bronze wings and a yellow bill. Scaly-naped Amazon Amazona mercenarius is larger, with a longer tail and a scaly nape.
Habitat
Humid foothill and montane forest, forest edges, open country with scattered trees and coffee plantations, roughly between 500 and 2500 m, locally higher or lower. It eats fruit, seeds and flowers in the canopy and wanders with the food supply, sometimes also to lower elevations. 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 Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Serranía de Perijá and on the slopes of the Andes, mainly the Eastern Andes. In Ecuador on the eastern slope of the Andes. In Peru on the eastern slope of the Andes along almost the whole length of the country. In Bolivia on the eastern slope in the Yungas, south to Santa Cruz. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in the coastal ranges and Andes of Venezuela.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Search along roads through foothill forest on the eastern slope, as in Ecuador and Peru, and in the morning watch for pairs flying across the valley with deep wingbeats and a harsh call. At fruiting trees they often sit motionless in the canopy for long periods.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species tolerates partly deforested landscapes, but deforestation of the Andean slopes and trapping for the trade are local threats.
Scientific name
Pionus sordidus | (Linnaeus, 1758)
Linnaeus described the species in 1758 as Psittacus sordidus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Pionus was introduced in 1832 by Wagler. The genus name comes from Greek piōn, 'fat, plump', for the stocky build. The species name comes from Latin sordidus, 'dirty, drab', for the dull plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from Venezuela.