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Green-rumped Parrotlet | Forpus passerinus
Groene muspapegaai | Cotorrita culiverde
The Green-rumped Parrotlet is one of the world's smallest parrots, barely bigger than a sparrow, with a short pointed tail. On Trinidad and Tobago it is a common resident of open country and native there. On Jamaica it was introduced and is now established over much of the island; it was also released on Barbados and Curaçao.
Voice
Light twittering, such as a repeated tchit or tseet-tseet, in flight and from trees; at communal roosts louder and more penetrating. Mates recognise each other by individual contact calls.
Recording: Paul Lenrumé — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
12–13 cm, compact, with a short wedge-shaped tail. Bright green, the rump and underparts paler emerald; the nape slightly greyer. The male has violet-blue primaries, secondaries and coverts, with turquoise on the leading edge of the wing; the blue shows mainly in flight. The female lacks the blue and has more yellow-green on the head. The bill is pale pinkish-white.
Confusion species
No other parrot in the region is as small. Lilac-tailed Parrotlet Touit batavicus on Trinidad is slightly larger, with a yellow head and black back and wings, and lives in forest. Brown-throated Parakeet Eupsittula pertinax and other parakeets are much larger, with long tails.
Habitat
Dry scrub, open deciduous woodland, gallery forest, pasture with scattered trees, plantations, farmyards, town parks and gardens; it benefits from deforestation. It eats seeds of grasses and herbs, buds, flowers and small fruits, often low in bushes or on the ground. It breeds in the rainy season in tree holes, hollow fence posts and termite nests, usually laying 4–6 eggs.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
Resident on Trinidad and Tobago, common on both islands in the lowlands and on lower slopes. Introduced to Jamaica, where it is now established over much of the island, from Westmoreland and Trelawny to Portland. Introduced to Barbados but since lost there. Introduced to Curaçao; recent records there are scarce. Single birds on other islands are probably escapes. Outside the region from Colombia and Venezuela through the Guianas to the lower Amazon in Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
On Trinidad and Tobago in almost any open landscape with bushes and trees, including gardens and hotel grounds; on Jamaica in the lowlands and on lower slopes. Flocks are usually noticed first by their twittering; perched in a tree, they are often overlooked because of their colour and size.
Conservation status
Not threatened. Common, and where forest gives way to open country it tends to increase rather than decline. On Jamaica and Curaçao an introduced species.
Scientific name
Forpus passerinus | (Linnaeus, 1758)
Linnaeus described the species in 1758 as Psittacus passerinus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Forpus was introduced in 1858 by Boie. The derivation of Forpus is unknown. passerinus is Latin for 'sparrow-like', after the small size of this parrot. The specimen the first description was based on came from Suriname.