El Oro Parakeet | Miles To The Wild

The El Oro Parakeet, Conure D’Orcès, cotorra de El Oro, or perico de El Oro (Pyrrhura orcesi) is a species of parrot in the Psittacidae family, endemic to Ecuador. It is a relatively newly identified species, having been discovered in 1980.

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They are highly endangered and only found in the Buenaventura Reserve where I took these photos. I have circled the rough area near Pinas in southern Ecuador for travel planning but you MUST visit them with a guide from the Umbrellabird Lodge as I posted before for the protection of the birds.

Buenaventura

LEARN MORE ABOUT EL ORO PARAKEETS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

American Bird Conservancy

Neotropical Birds

VIDEO

There aren’t many videos of this beautiful rare parakeet but I did find one.

Most birders who come to Buenaventura Reserve are hoping to see the beautiful endangered El Oro Parakeet. This petite parakeet would normally be a challenge to see in the wild but fortunately there is one special trail where they nest. Access is limited and you must go there with a guide from Umbrellabird Lodge booked in advance with Jocotoco Foundation. The trail is locked for the protection of the birds.

We arrived at the spot about an hour early, the parakeets usually show up around 5pm-ish so we looked for other birds in the meantime. Not many around, here’s a Striped Cuckoo. IMG_2206a

Our patience was rewarded as the El Oro Parakeets started arriving right on schedule. First they perched in the trees, then a pair went down to the nest box. One bird went inside the nest while the other kept watch on top. I couldn’t see if there were any babies inside but the behaviour of the adults suggested they were feeding babies. IMG_2184a IMG_2193a IMG_2201a IMG_2200a IMG_2217a IMG_2221a IMG_2237a IMG_2250a IMG_2251a IMG_2259a IMG_2272a DSCN0677 DSCN0687 DSCN0703 DSCN0675 DSCN0671 DSCN0666 DSCN0663