Blue-winged parrotlet
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The cobalt-rumped parrotlet (''Forpus xanthopterygius'') or blue-winged parrotlet is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. There are two subspecies: Salvadori's cobalt-rumped parrotlet (''F. x. flavescens'') and Hellmayr's cobalt-rumped parrotlet (''F. x. flavissimus'').


Description


Distribution and habitat

Cobalt-rumped parrotlets are found in much of central and northern South America. Their range is split by each subspecies, as described above. It is generally common and widespread, though more localized in the
Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
. Cobalt-rumped parrotlets are mainly found in lowlands. They occur in dry and riparian woodlands, cerrado, caatinga, palm groves, semi-arid
scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...
, savanna, and pastures. Cobalt-rumped parrotlets tend to avoid densely forested areas. They are not found at altitudes above . Cobalt-rumped parrotlets are generally
non-migratory Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...
; however, populations in Argentina move locally according to the flowering seasons of various plant species in their diet. Populations in the Brazilian
Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...
are altitudinal migrants.


Conservation

The number of cobalt-rumped parrotlets is unknown, but the population is stable. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. The number of wild individuals is unknown.


Threats

The cobalt-rumped parrotlet is not known to be affected by deforestation or the pet trade, unlike many of its close relatives in the genus ''
Forpus ''Forpus'' is a genus of neotropical parrots in the family Psittacidae. It is the only genus in the Forpini tribe of the subfamily Arinae. Taxonomy The genus ''Forpus'' was introduced in 1858 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie. The type spec ...
''. There are many areas across its range that are already protected.


Behavior and ecology


Social

Flocks are usually around 20 birds but can grow to over 50 around fruiting trees or seeding grasses. They are highly social and gregarious. Cobalt-rumped parrotlets tend to feed in groups, usually between 2 and 12 individuals. Cobalt-rumped parrotlets call while in flight and perched. Their calls are high-pitched "sheet" or "zeet" screeches or twittering. When feeding and socializing in large groups they make twittering and chattering noises.


Reproduction

Cobalt-rumped parrotlets' breeding season is May to August, but occupied nests have been observed in July, January, and March in different areas of the birds' range. Females lay 3-7 small, white, roughly spherical eggs. Some cobalt-rumped parrotlets have been observed to scrape
rufous hornero The rufous hornero (''Furnarius rufus'') is a medium-sized ovenbird in the family Furnariidae. It occurs in eastern South America, and is the national bird of Argentina. Also known as the red ovenbird, it is common in savannas, second-growth scr ...
nests (made of clay) with their beaks. Though the reason for this is not entirely clear, nests created by rufous horneros have been used by cobalt-rumped parrotlets to raise their broods, which has led to the suggestion that the parrotlets are "taste-testing" the nest material to determine whether it is suitable, according to unknown standards, for their needs. However, similar studies of other ''
Forpus ''Forpus'' is a genus of neotropical parrots in the family Psittacidae. It is the only genus in the Forpini tribe of the subfamily Arinae. Taxonomy The genus ''Forpus'' was introduced in 1858 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie. The type spec ...
'' species have concluded that clay-licking provides important minerals to the birds that otherwise would not be accessible.


Diet

Cobalt-rumped parrotlets mostly feed on '' Cecropia sp.'' and '' Ficus sp.'' fruits, ''
Mikania ''Mikania'' is a genus of about 450 species of plants in the tribe Eupatorieae within the family Asteraceae. The name honors the Czech botanist Johann Christian Mikan, 1743–1814. Members of the genus are stem twiners and lianas and are common ...
sp.'' and '' Trema micrantha'' seeds, and ''
Ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...
sp.,
Handroanthus serratifolius ''Handroanthus serratifolius'' is a species of tree, commonly known as yellow lapacho, pau d'arco, yellow poui, yellow ipe, pau d'arco amarelo, or ''ipê-amarelo''. Description It is a tree native to forests throughout Central and South Ame ...
'', and '' Marcgravia sp.'' flowers. However, they are known to occasionally feed on other plants such as grass. Cobalt-rumped parrotlets have been known to migrate locally based on the flowering and fruiting seasons of some of the main plants of their diet.


Taxonomy

For many years, the cobalt-rumped parrotlet was considered conspecific with the
green-rumped parrotlet The green-rumped parrotlet (''Forpus passerinus'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae that is found in northeastern South America and the Caribbean island of Trinidad. The green-rumped parrotlet occurs from northern Venezuela eastwa ...
(''Forpus passerinus''), but today all authorities recognize the two as separate species. The
turquoise-winged parrotlet The turquoise-winged parrotlet (''Forpus spengeli'') is a species of parrot in the family Pscittacidae. Description Turquoise-winged parrotlets are typically long and weigh about . Their bodies are mostly yellow-green; eyes are dark brown an ...
(''F. spengeli'') and the
riparian parrotlet The riparian parrotlet (''Forpus crassirostris'') or large-billed parrotlet is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. Description Riparian parrotlets are typically long and weigh about . Their bodies are mostly yellow-green. Eyes are ...
(''F. crassirostris'') were also considered conspecific with the cobalt-rumped parrotlet until studies in 2015 pointed out the error in this classification based on morphological and geographical differences. However, some taxonomic authorities, including the American Ornithological Society, still consider them so. The cobalt-rumped parrotlet, at least until 2021, is a rare case in which the
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
has been more stable than the
binomial Binomial may refer to: In mathematics *Binomial (polynomial), a polynomial with two terms * Binomial coefficient, numbers appearing in the expansions of powers of binomials *Binomial QMF, a perfect-reconstruction orthogonal wavelet decomposition ...
. ''F. xanthopterygius'' initially referred to what are now considered two distinct species: the cobalt-rumped parrotlet (then referred to as the blue-winged parrotlet) and the white-winged parakeet (''Brotogeris versicolurus)''. In 1945, the Brazilian
ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
Olivério Pinto Olivério Mário de Oliveira Pinto (11 March 1896 – 13 June 1981) was a Brazilian zoologist and physician. Life Born in 1896 in the city of Jaú, state of São Paulo, Brazil, Olivério Pinto was the son of Estevam de Oliveira Pinto and Eudóxia ...
discarded the name ''F. xanthopterygius'' for the blue-winged parrotlet and renamed it ''F. crassirostris'' (which now applies to the closely related
riparian parrotlet The riparian parrotlet (''Forpus crassirostris'') or large-billed parrotlet is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. Description Riparian parrotlets are typically long and weigh about . Their bodies are mostly yellow-green. Eyes are ...
). During the same year, the blue-winged parrotlet was mistakenly recorded as ''F. xanthopterygius crassirostris'' and was again reverted to ''F. xanthopterygius''. In 1978, Pinto mentioned the mistake in ''Novo Catálogo das Aves do Brazil'' and the name was changed to ''F. crassirostris''. However, as was pointed out in 1999, the original name (''F. xanthopterygius'') remains valid per
ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the I ...
rules. Consequently, this name was re-applied to the blue-winged parrotlet. In 2021, the species was renamed from blue-winged parrotlet to cobalt-rumped parrotlet by the
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
, marking the first major change to the common name of the species. Additionally, the name of the
nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
also changed: ''F. x. xanthopterygius'' is the subspecies formerly listed as ''F. crassirostris vividus''.


References


External links


World Parrot Trust
Parrot Encyclopedia: species profile
Birdphotos.com
map of range
Neotropical Birds
by Cornell Lab of Ornithology: species profile and media
eBird
by Cornell Lab of Ornithology: species profile and media {{Taxonbar, from=Q882842
cobalt-rumped parrotlet The cobalt-rumped parrotlet (''Forpus xanthopterygius'') or blue-winged parrotlet is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. There are two subspecies: Salvadori's cobalt-rumped parrotlet (''F. x. flavescens'') and Hellmayr's cobalt-rumpe ...
Birds of Brazil Birds of Bolivia Birds of Paraguay Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon
cobalt-rumped parrotlet The cobalt-rumped parrotlet (''Forpus xanthopterygius'') or blue-winged parrotlet is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. There are two subspecies: Salvadori's cobalt-rumped parrotlet (''F. x. flavescens'') and Hellmayr's cobalt-rumpe ...