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Rusty-faced Parrot | Hapalopsittaca amazonina
Andespapegaai | Cotorra montañera | Papagaio-andino-de-face-ferrugínea
The Rusty-faced Parrot is a stocky, short-tailed parrot of the cloud forests of the northern Andes. It lives high in montane forest, in pairs or small groups, and often flies low over the treetops. Of the four Hapalopsittaca parrots it has the northernmost range.
Voice
High, shrill and somewhat grating calls, mainly in flight, and softer chatter while feeding.
Recording: Iván Lau — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
23 cm, stocky, with a short tail and a pale, greyish bill. The plumage is green. The forehead, lores and cheeks are rusty red, the ear-coverts olive yellow with fine pale streaks, and the hindcrown has a bluish tinge. The shoulder is red and the primaries are dark blue. The sexes are alike; juveniles have less red on the head.
Confusion species
Fuertes's Parrot Hapalopsittaca fuertesi has a blue crown, only a narrow red band on the forehead and a yellowish green face, and lives higher and very locally in the Central Andes. 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.
Habitat
Humid montane forest and cloud forest, forest edges and older secondary growth, roughly between 2000 and 3300 m. It eats fruit, seeds and flowers, including those of mistletoes and epiphytes, mostly 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 Colombia in the Eastern Andes and locally in the Central Andes. Absent from Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in the Andes of western Venezuela.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Look in the early morning in cloud forest of the Eastern Andes of Colombia for small groups flying low over the canopy. In fruiting trees they often sit still and give themselves away by their calls.
Conservation status
Near Threatened. Montane forest within its range is heavily fragmented by clearance for farming and ranching, and the population is declining.
Scientific name
Hapalopsittaca amazonina | (des Murs, 1845)
Des Murs described the species in 1845 as Psittacus amazoninus; 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 is Modern Latin amazoninus, 'Amazonian, of Amazonia'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Bogotá, Colombia.