The brown-hooded parrot (''Pyrilia haematotis'') is a small

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...

which is a resident breeding species from southeastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to north-western

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. Until recently, it was placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Pionopsitta'', which now is restricted to the type species, the

pileated parrot The South American pileated parrot (''Pionopsitta pileata''), also known as the red-capped parrot (leading to easy confusion with the Australian ''Purpureicephalus spurius''), is a medium-small species of parrot with a total length of about . It ...

. It is sometimes considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

with the

rose-faced parrot The rose-faced parrot (''Pyrilia pulchra'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the brown-hooded parrot (''P. haematotis''), and was formerly placed in '' Pionopsitta'' which is now monot ...

(''P. pulchra''). This species has been adversely affected by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. It is found in lowlands and foothills locally up to 1600 m altitude in forest canopy and edges, and adjacent semi-open woodland and second growth. The white

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s are laid in an unlined nest, usually a natural cavity in a tree.

Description

The brown-hooded parrot is 21 cm long and weighs 165 g. The adult has a brown head and neck, darker on the face, especially in males, and a red ear-patch. The rest of the body is mainly green, with an olive tone to the breast. The wings have blue outer primaries and red linings which show well in flight, and the tail has reddish sides The eye-ring and bill are pale. Young birds are similar to the adults, but paler, duller, and without red on the head.

Behaviour

The brown-hooded parrot feeds in pairs or small flocks of up to 15 birds, taking various seeds and fruits, including

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

s, from trees and

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s. It can be difficult to see when feeding since it is slow-moving, usually silent, and keeps in the canopy. Its flight call is a rolling ''kereek'', and when perched it has a variety of social gurgles and squeaks.

References

* Stiles and Skutch, ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica'' * Ribas, C., R. Gaban-Lima, C. Miyaki, and J. Cracraft (2005). ''Historical biogeography and diversification within the Neotropical parrot genus Pionopsitta (Aves: Psittacidae).'' Journal Biogeography 32:1409-1427. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1062472

brown-hooded parrot The brown-hooded parrot (''Pyrilia haematotis'') is a small parrot which is a resident breeding species from southeastern Mexico to north-western Colombia. Until recently, it was placed in the genus ''Pionopsitta'', which now is restricted to the ...

Birds of Belize Birds of Central America