Green-rumped parrotlet
| Green-rumped parrotlet | |
|---|---|
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| Male (right) and female (left) in Venezuela | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Superfamily: | Psittacoidea |
| Family: | Psittacidae |
| Subfamily: | Arinae |
| Genus: | Forpus |
| Species: | F. passerinus |
| Binomial name | |
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Forpus passerinus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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The green-rumped parrotlet (Forpus passerinus) is a small Neotropical parrot. It is one of seven species in the genus Forpus and is found in Northeastern South America.
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. Green-rumped parrotlets exhibit sexual dimorphism. Both sexes are primarily bright green with short tails and a pinkish beak. Males have a brilliant blue wing patch; females lack blue but 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. Contact calls are individually distinct and are used for individual mate recognition.
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.
Green-rumped parrotlets are fairly common in open, semi-arid habitat and are found residing in dry scrubland, deciduous woodland, gallery forest, farmland, forest edges, and deforested areas throughout their range. While they are non-migratory, they may wander locally to locate sources of food.
Green-rumped parrotlets are very gregarious and roost communally; large numbers can be seen at the roost sites at dawn and dusk. They form strong pair bonds and rarely switch mates, but typically only breed with the same individual for 1-2 seasons.
Green-rumped parrotlets breed during the rainy season (June- November). They typically make their nests in unlined tree cavities, holes found in arboreal termite nests, or in cavities in wooden fence posts. The female lays an average of seven white eggs over a period of 9–16 days. The female usually initiates incubation after the first egg is laid, leading to asynchronous hatching which begins 18–22 days after the start of incubation. Depending on the clutch size, hatching concludes 2–14 days after the first egg hatches. Fledging occurs 29–35 days after hatching, with the clutch fledging over a period of 14 days on average.
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Wikipedia