Since I’ve been blogging about Central American parrots lately, I thought you would enjoy this mini-doco about Amazon Parrots & Macaws. Nice close-ups!
Amazon Parrots & Macaws Mini-Doco
Reply
Category Archives: Parrots
Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao)
The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large, red, yellow and blue South American parrot, a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots called macaws.
Two subspecies present differing widths in their yellow wing band:
- A. macao macao South American Scarlet Macaw, the nominate subspecies
- A. macao cyanoptera (Wiedenfeld 1995) North Central American Scarlet Macaw
The Central American scarlet macaw is larger and has blue on its wings instead of green.
Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao)
It is native to humid evergreen forests of tropical South America. Range extends from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Brazil in lowlands up to 500 m (1,640 ft) (at least formerly) up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). It has suffered from local extinction through habitat destruction and capture for the parrot trade, but locally it remains fairly common. Formerly it ranged north to southern Tamaulipas. It can still be found on the island of Coiba. It is the national bird of Honduras.
Red – Carara National Park, Costa Rica
Purple – Tambopata, Peru
Blue – Alta Floresta/Cristalino, Brazil
Because the Scarlet Macaw has such a large range, it makes it easier to plan a trip to see them in the wild. I have personally seen them at Carara National Park in Costa Rica (use a Central American award), Tambopata in Peru (use a nothern South American award) and Alta Floresta & Cristalino in Brazil (use a southern South American award). Carara can also be accessed by cruise ship passengers, a great way to get your feet wet if you are new to bird watching! Book a Panama Canal cruise that stops in Puntarenas.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT
VIDEO
The Ara Project in Costa Rica releases some Scarlet Macaws who were bred to fly free and replenish the wild population.
The filmer cut off the best part, where the Chicos of Tambopata raid the breakfast table!
Yellow-naped Parrot (Amazona auropalliata)
The Yellow-naped Parrot or Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata) is an Amazon parrot sometimes considered to be a subspecies of Yellow-crowned Amazon, Amazona ochrocephala (Gmelin, 1788). This one in the photo is a captive wild parrot who would have originated in northern Costa Rica.
Amazona auropalliata is found in Mexico and Central America, occurring along the Pacific slope of the isthmus in southern Mexico (Oaxaca and Chiapas), Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and north-western Costa Rica, the Bay Islands (Roatán and Guanaja) of Honduras, and the Caribbean slope in eastern Honduras and north-eastern Nicaragua (Juniper and Parr 1998).
.
Probably the easiest place to see them logistically is in the Guanacaste or Tarcoles area of Costa Rica. Use a Central American award to get you here. When I blog about Tarcoles, I will go into more detail about where to see them in that area.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT
VIDEO
Nice mini-doco with some interviews in Spanish with English subtitles. I especially love how they are encouraging the local communities to support eco-tourism and leave the birds in the wild!
Brown-hooded Parrot (Pyrilia haematotis)
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 type species, the Pileated Parrot. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the Rose-faced Parrot (P. pulchra). This species has been adversely affected by deforestation.
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 eggs are laid in an unlined nest, usually a natural cavity in a tree.
Although their range extends from Mexico to northern Colombia, the easiest place to see this beautiful parrot is at Laguna del Lagarto Lodge in Costa Rica. Use an award to Central America to get to San Jose, then the lodge has a shuttle to transfer you there. It’s quite a remote area.
.
This species is presumed to have declined over much of its range due to deforestation, but it is still rated as “least concern” by IUCN.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT
VIDEO
Birds Of Laguna Del Lagarto: Parrots, Toucans, Aracaris & Trogon
Since there are so many photos, I am breaking this up into separate posts. There are other posts for information on how to get to Costa Rica & Laguna del Lagarto.
Bird List of Laguna del Lagarto
PARROTS
I highlighted in yellow the ones I saw. I didn’t get photos of the Crimson-fronted Parakeet or Olive-throated Parakeet. I’ll try to put the photos in order of this list as there are too many to caption.
.
TOUCANS & ARACARIS
.
SLATY-TAILED TROGON
.
Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus)
The Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus) is also known as Buffon’s Macaw or the Great Military Macaw. Two allopatric subspecies are recognized, the nominate subspecies is found in Central America to northern Colombia, while A. a. guayaquilensis is found in western Ecuador and possibly south-western Colombia.
The photo above from Wikipedia shows the bird up close in all his glory. I wasn’t so lucky with my photography as both my sightings were at a distance and came out blurry. At least I got to see them which was exciting in itself!
This macaw has a very limited range in Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. Costa Rica has the easiest places to see them in the Selva Verde/Sarapiqui area and near the Nicaraguan border at Laguna del Lagarto. Use a Central American award to San Jose, Costa Rica.
.
Great Green Macaws are the largest parrots in their natural range, averaging 85–90 cm (33–36 in) long and 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) in weight. They are mainly green and have a reddish forehead and pale blue lower back, rump and upper tail feathers. Tail is brownish red tipped with very pale blue. The bare facial skin is patterned with lines of small dark feathers, which are reddish in older and female parrots.
They are highly endangered and there are several conservation groups working to preserve them in the wild. If you would like to help this fantastic macaw survive, please visit these projects’ websites.
WORLD PARROT TRUST
WPT has provided support in the form of funds ($15,000 US) through the Great Green Macaw Fund.
Also see: http://www.parrots.org/index.php/ourwork/greatgreenmacaw/
Links to Other Project(s):
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2005/07/great_green_macaw.html
http://www.thearaproject.org/project.php
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT
VIDEO
This was filmed near the Selva Verde Lodge. I wish I had a camera crew like this! The host, James Currie of Birding Adventures talks about a conservation project to protect the nesting trees of the macaws.
White-fronted Parrot (Amazona albifrons)
The White-fronted Amazon (Amazona albifrons) also known as the White-fronted Parrot, or adopted slang term Spectacled Amazon is found throughout most of Central America.
.
We saw them in Belize at Belize Bird Rescue, Tikal National Park and Laguna del Lagarto in Costa Rica.
The White-fronted Amazon, at about 25 cm (10 in) long, is the smallest of the Amazon parrots. This species is named for the bright white patch of feathers on their foreheads, although the amount of white varies from individual to individual. They have mostly green plumage with some blue colouring on their outspread wings. They have bright red coloring around their eyes (in some individuals almost like spectacles) and blue coloring behind the patch of white on their foreheads.
They can be found in a variety of wooded areas and open country with trees such as moist, seasonal semi-evergreen and deciduous forest, pine woodlands, gallery forest, ranchland with stands of open woodland, savanna and arid tropical scrub with cacti. Up to 1850m (6068 ft).
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT
VIDEO
I had a hard time finding footage of this bird in the wild, this one is short but you can hear what they sound like.
Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis)
Red-lored Amazon or Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis)
The Red-lored Amazon or Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis) is a species of Amazon parrot, native to tropical regions of the Americas, from eastern Mexico south to Ecuador, with a disjunct population in central Brazil, where it occurs in humid evergreen to semi-deciduous forests up to 1,100 m altitude. It is absent from the Pacific side of Central America north of Costa Rica.
.
For those wishing to see them in the wild, there are several options. We saw a few at Crooked Tree Sanctuary in Belize, also a few at Tikal National Park, Laguna del Lagarto in Costa Rica and Soberania National Park in Panama. You can use your miles for a Central America award to all of these countries.
Red-lored Amazon or Red-lored Parrot (Amazona autumnalis)
There are four subspecies:
- Amazona autumnalis autumnalis (Linnaeus, 1758). Caribbean coasts from eastern Mexico south to northern Nicaragua.
- Amazona autumnalis salvini (Salvadori, 1891). Northern Nicaragua south to Colombia and Venezuela.
- Amazona autumnalis lilacina (Lesson, 1844), the Lilacine Amazon. Western Ecuador.
- Amazona autumnalis diadema (Spix, 1824), the Diademed Amazon. Lower Rio Negro area, central Brazil.
In some areas, notably parts of Mexico and Venezuela, the Red-lored Amazon has become rare through trapping for the cagebird trade. On the other hand, it seems to be able to adapt to human-altered habitat to a considerable degree
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT
VIDEOS
They never pose like this for me!
Yellow-headed Parrot (Amazona oratrix)
The Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix), also known as the Yellow-headed Parrot and Double Yellow-headed Amazon, is an endangered amazon parrot of Mexico and northern Central America. Measuring 38–43 centimetres (15–17 in) in length, it is a stocky short-tailed green parrot with a yellow head. It prefers to live in mangrove forests or forests near rivers or other bodies of water. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the Yellow-crowned Amazon.
.
The best place to see Yellow-headed Parrots is in the Crooked Tree Sanctuary, Belize because it is easily accessible and pretty reliable. This map from www.birdlife.org has their full range. If you are using airline miles, the requirements would be for a Central American award.
.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT
VIDEO
Targeting Central American Parrot Species
Central America has some of the best birding in the world. There are so many bird species, it would be impossible to see all of them or even visit all the national parks and regions where birds are easily seen. It is better to make a list of your priority species, find out where they can be seen and cross-reference the different regions to maximize possible species. Since I am obsessed with Parrots, I gave them priority when I decided which regions and national parks I would visit. I knew that many other fascinating bird species would also be seen such as the Resplendent Quetzal, various Toucans and Aracaris, many gorgeous little Tanagers and Woodpeckers and lots of other birds.
After using several resources such as the bird lists found on national park websites, the book Parrots of the World by Joseph Forshaw and recommendations from friends, I came up with the following spreadsheet. A black X indicates the bird has been seen in that area. A green X indicates the birds I actually saw when I was there. The “captive” Yellow-naped Amazon seen near Montverde was originally a wild parrot whose wings have been clipped so he can’t fly and is forced to hang around a certain restaurant/gift shop. There will be more details on future blogs. The bright yellow shading indicated parrots I was successful in seeing, the white rows are the 3 species I didn’t find-the Barred Parakeet and the 2 Parrotlets.
Parrots of Central America