The Nanday Parakeet (Aratinga nenday) also known as the Black-hooded Parakeet or Nanday Conure (most common name used by aviculturists) is a medium-small mostly green Neotropical parrot. They are extremely popular as pets so most of you will be familiar with their appearance but what you may not know is that the eye-rings of the wild birds remains black. The eye-rings of pet birds tend to be white due to lack of sun.
Compare the dark eye-ring of the wild bird in the top photo to this one of my pet Nanday where you can clearly see the white eye-ring.
The range of Nanday Parakeets extends from southern Brazil throughout the Pantanal region into far eastern Bolivia and down to Paraguay. The Pantanal is the easiest place to see them and they are can usually be found in the trees around Caiman Ecological Refuge. I have also seen feral populations of escaped/released pet birds in Florida and heard of others in California.
LEARN MORE ABOUT NANDAY PARAKEETS
VIDEOS
Since these birds are so popular as pets it was hard to find videos of them in the wild. Here’s a couple.