Pileated Parrot

About the Pileated Parrot

The South American pileated parrot (Pionopsitta pileata) is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. It was formerly known as the red-capped parrot, easily leading to confusion with the Australian Purpureicephalus spurius that bears that English name.

The pileated parrot is the only member of genus Pionopsitta and has no subspecies. However, what are now the seven species in genus Pyrilia were for a long period included in Pionopsitta. A local name for the pileated parrot in Brazilian Portuguese is "cuiú cuiú".

The pileated parrot is 20 to 22 cm (7.9 to 8.7 in) long and weighs 98 to 120 g (3.5 to 4.2 oz). Adults have an essentially all green body, with a yellowish abdomen. Their primaries, primary coverts, and the edges and tips of their tail feathers are dull blue. Males have a red forehead, crown, lores, and upper ear coverts. Females do not have any red but do have a faint blue wash on the forehead and breast. Immature males have less red on the head than adults, and females have less blue on the wings. Wikipedia →