The scaly-headed parrot (''Pionus maximiliani'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Psittacidae, the

true parrots The true parrots are about 350 species of hook-billed, mostly herbivorous birds forming the superfamily Psittacoidea, one of the three superfamilies in the biological order Psittaciformes (parrots). True parrots are widespread, with species in ...

. It is also called scaly-headed pionus, Maximilian pionus, Maximilian parrot, Maximilian's pionus, or Maximilian's parrot. It is found in eastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, central and eastern

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, and northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. It is found in a wide range of wooded habitats, from humid subtropical forest to arid

Caatinga Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...

. It is fairly common throughout a large part of its range. It is typically seen in pairs or small flocks. The scaling to the head for which it is named is typically far less distinct than the bright red undertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

(a feature found in all members of the genus ''

Pionus ''Pionus'' is a genus of medium-sized parrots native to Mexico, and Central and South America. Characteristic of the genus are the chunky body, bare eye ring (which can vary in color), and short square tail. They are superficially similar to Amaz ...

''). Its name is a reference to Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, a nobleman and naturalist who explored the hinterlands of southeastern Brazil in the early 19th century. In Brazil, they are called ''cocotas'' or ''maritacas'' (from mbaé'taka,

tupi Tupi may refer to: * Tupi people of Brazil * Tupi or Tupian languages, spoken in South America ** Tupi language, an extinct Tupian language spoken by the Tupi people * Tupi oil field off the coast of Brazil * Tupi Paulista, a Brazilian municipalit ...

for "noisy bird") Feral scaly-headed parrots have been observed breeding since 2017 in the parks of Malaga, Spain. In one Spanish case a female Scaly-headed parrot was observed successfully raising hybrid offspring with a male

Orange-winged amazon The orange-winged amazon (''Amazona amazonica''), also known locally as orange-winged parrot and loro guaro, is a large amazon parrot. It is a resident breeding bird in tropical South America, from Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago south to Peru, Bo ...

parrot.

Gallery

File:Scaly-headed Parrot (Pionus maximiliani) (30937506554).jpg, Wild scaly-headed parrot File:Pionus maximiliani -pet-4a.jpg, Pet parrot, showing red undertail coverts

References

External links

Scaly-headed parrot videos
on the Internet Bird Collection

VIREO * ttp://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/psittaciformes/images/pione.de.maximilien.pade.1g.jpg Photo-High Res ttp://www.oiseaux.net/photos/patrick.derennes/scaly-headed.parrot.1.html Articleoiseaux Pionus Birds of the Cerrado Birds of the Caatinga Birds of the Pantanal Birds of Bolivia Birds of Paraguay Birds of Argentina Birds of Brazil Birds described in 1820 Feral parrots Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{parrot-stub