Green-rumped Parrotlet

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Green-rumped Parrotlet
Male (right) and female (left) in Venezuela
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily: Psittacoidea
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Arinae
Genus: Forpus
Species: F. passerinus
Binomial name
Forpus passerinus
(Linnaeus, 1766)

The Green-rumped Parrotlet (Forpus passerinus) is a small parrot. It is a resident breeding bird in tropical South America, from Caribbean regions of Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad south and east to the Guianas and Brazil, on the downstream Amazon River. It has been introduced in Jamaica, Curaçao, Barbados and Tobago, and was not recorded on Trinidad prior to 1916.

Its habitat is open forest and scrub. The female lays five to seven white eggs in a hole in a termite nest, tree cavity, or even hollow pipe, and incubates the clutch for 18 days to hatching, with about another five weeks to fledging.

The Green-rumped Parrotlet is about 12 cm (4.8 in) long and weighs 23 g and is the smallest parrot found in the Americas. It is mainly bright green with a short tail and pinkish bill. The male has a brilliant blue wing patch, and females sometimes have some yellow on the head. The subspecies F. p. viridissimus of Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago is darker green than the nominate F. p. passerinus, and the males have more strongly blue-tinged wings.

Green-rumped Parrotlets make light, twittering calls. They eat seeds including those of grasses. They are very gregarious and roost communally; large numbers can be seen at the roost sites at dawn and dusk.

This is a widespread and common species which has benefited from deforestation.

According to Stotz et al. 1996 and del Hoyo et al. 1997 .. birds of South America are not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources(IUCN) Red List.

However avian breeders find it more difficult to locate non-related breeding pairs.

Subspecies

Forpus passerinus passerinus Found in the Guianas. Also known as Nominate subspecies. The male is green with a brighter green at the forehead and cheeks, underside of the body and behind the neck. Lower back, rump and upper tail are bright emerald green. Underside of wings and edge of wing are blue. Females are the same as males, but lacking any blue. They may have more yellowish colorings on forehead. Green-Rumped Parrotlets have a sleek body (feathers held tight), their eyes are dark brown, and their legs are a pale pink.

Forpus passerinus viridissimus Found in North Venezuela, Trindad and Tobago. Also known as Venezuelan Green Parrotlet. Like F.p. passerinus, but the male has paler blue markings. The green plumage on both males and females varies significantly based on what region they are from.

Forpus passerinus deliciosus Found in the lower Amazonian Basin in Brazil. Also known as Delicate Parrotlet, Santarem Passerine Parrotlet. Like F. p. passerinus, but the male has an emerald green rump with bluish tinge and broad pale blue edging on the greater wing coverts. Female has more yellow throughout and a deeper yellow facial area.

Forpus passerinus cyanochlorus Found in Roraima-Brazil. Also known as Schlegel's Parrotlet. Like F.P. Passerinus, but the female's tail feathers are more green on the underside. Also has more yellow throughout and a green forehead.

Forpus passerinus cyanophanes Found in the areas around Northern Colombia. Also known as Rio Hacha Parrotlet. Like F.p. passerinus. Male's blue wing-markings are more violet, and show more blue when wing is closed than in the other subspecies.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Forpus passerinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013. 
  • Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
  • ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2. 

External links

details of sub-species and sub-species info courtesy of Parrotlet Alliance, Inc. Special thanks to June DiCiocco.

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