White-winged Parakeet

IDENTIFICATION: A widespread, introduced parakeet, the White-winged Parakeet is bright green, with a long, thin tail, a light-colored bill, and dramatic, yellow-and-white wing patches. Length: 22-25 cm.; weight: 62-81 g.

VOICE: Shrieks, slightly higher-pitched than that of the Monk Parakeet. Audio (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: City parks, gardens and farms.

HABITS: Parakeets travel in flocks to feed on fruits and seeds. They rest in treetops in mid-day where they can be heard, but are often difficult to see at first. Many details of this speciesÆ biology are unknown. Since it nests inside termite nests---unlike other non-native parrot species---the White-winged Parakeet is virtually impossible to raise in captivity. It is thought to have 4-6 eggs per clutch. Young fledge about 4-5 weeks after hatching.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: Common in lowland Puerto Rico where it was first imported from Venezuela about 1916. About 230,000 were legally imported to the USA between 1968 and 1972. Many other parrots and parakeets have been introduced to Puerto Rico but are not as widespread or well-established as the White-winged or Monk Parakeets.

RANGE: Native to the Amazon River basin from southeastern Colombia and northeastern Peru to northeastern Brazil and French Guíana; also introduced in Miami and other warmer areas of North America.

TAXONOMY: PSITTACIFORMES; PSITTACIDAE; Arinae. Formerly called Canary-winged Parakeet, and has been split from the Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (Brotogeris chiriri) a species native to southern South America (the latter speciesÆ wing patches are yellow, without any white).


Photo: M. Oberle

References

Brightsmith, D. 1999. White-winged Parakeet/Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (Brotogeris versicolurus/B. chiriri). No. 386-387 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Camacho Rodrφguez, M., J. Chabert Llompart, and M. L≤pez Flores. 1999. Guφa para la identificaci≤n de las aves ex≤ticas establecidas en Puerto Rico. Depto. de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, San Juan, PR.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1998. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Juniper, T. and M. Parr. 1998. Parrots: A guide to parrots of the world. Yale Univ. Press.

Pérez-Rivera, R. A. 1992. Feral exotic psittaciformes from Puerto Rico. Ornitología Caribeña 3:30-34.

Pérez-Rivera, R.A., G. Colón Méndez, W. Ríos Estrella, and W.L. de Jesús Suárez. 1989. Aspectos de la ecologia del periquito de ala amarilla (Brotogeris versicolurus) en Puerto Rico. Science-Ciencia 11(4):89-94.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A. and C. B. Kepler. 1992. Earliest records of the recently introduced avifauna of Puerto Rico. Ornitología Caribeña 3:20-29.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Smith, P.W. and S. A. Smith. 1993. An exotic dilemma for birders: the Canary-winged Parakeet. Birding 25:426-430.

http://www.arndt-verlag.com/conures.html

White-winged Parakeet, Spanish text

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