The black-headed parrot (''Pionites melanocephalus'' ; sometimes incorrectly ''Pionites melanocephala'') is a species of bird in subfamily

Arinae The neotropical parrots or New World parrots comprise about 150 species in 32 genera found throughout South America, South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean islands and the southern United States. Among them are some of the most familia ...

of the family

Psittacidae The Family (biology), family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the 12 species of subfamily Psittacinae (the Afrotropics, Afrotropical parrots) and 167 of subfamily Arinae (the New World or ...

, the African and New World parrots. Other colloquial names are black-crowned parrot, black-capped parrot, black-headed caique, and for subspecies ''P. m. pallidus'', pallid caique. It is found in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. 30 January 2023. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved 30 January 2023

Taxonomy

The black-headed parrot was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in the

tenth edition Tenth may refer to: Numbers * 10th, the ordinal form of the number ten * One tenth, , or 0.1, a fraction, one part of a unit divided equally into ten parts. ** the SI prefix deci- ** tithe, a one-tenth part of something * 1/10 of any unit of me ...

of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...

''. He placed it with all the other parrots in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Psittacus ''Psittacus'' is a genus of African grey parrots in the subfamily Psittacinae. It contains two species: the grey parrot (''Psittacus erithacus'') and the Timneh parrot (''Psittacus timneh''). For many years, the grey parrot and Timneh parrot we ...

'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Psittacus melanocephalus''. Linnaeus based his account on the "white-breasted parrot" that had been described and illustrated in 1751 by the English naturalist George Edwards in his multivolume work "A Natural History of Uncommon Birds". Linnaeus gave the type locality as Mexico but this has been changed to

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

in Venezuela as given by Edwards. The black-headed parrot is now placed together with the

white-bellied parrot The white-bellied parrot (''Pionites leucogaster''), or white-bellied caique in aviculture, is a species of bird in the subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and ...

in the genus ''

Pionites Caique ( or ) refers to two to four species of parrots in the genus ''Pionites'' endemic to the Amazon Basin in South America. Name The term "caique" is primarily used in aviculture, with ornithologists typically referring to them as the black ...

'' that was introduced in 1890 by the German ornithologist

Ferdinand Heine Jakob Gottlieb Ferdinand Heine (9 March 1809 in Halberstadt – 28 March 1894) was a German ornithologist and collector. Heine had one of the largest private collection of birds in the mid-19th century. The collection now housed at the Heineanum ...

. The generic name combines the genus ''

Pionus ''Pionus'' is a genus of medium-sized parrots native to Mexico, and Central and South America. Characteristic of the genus are the chunky body, bare eye ring (which can vary in color), and short square tail. They are superficially similar to Am ...

'' that was introduced by Johann Wagler in 1832 with the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''-itēs'' meaning "resembling". The name ''Pionus'' is from the Ancient Greek ''piōn'', ''pionos'' meaning "fat". The specific epithet ''melanocephalus'' combines the Ancient Greek ''melas'' meaning "black" with ''-kephalos'' meaning "-headed". Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised: * ''P. m. melanocephalus'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1758) – southeast Colombia and south Venezuela through the Guianas and north Brazil * ''P. m. pallidus'' ( Berlepsch, 1889) – south Colombia to northeast Peru

Description

The black-headed parrot is long and weighs . The sexes are the same. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a black cap from forehead to nape and a rufous-orange band across their hindneck. They are green from their lores to below their eye, and yellow on their lower face, sides of their neck, and their upper breast. Their back and wings are dull green with dark blue

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

and reddish blue axiillaries. Their lower breast and belly are creamy white and their flanks, thighs, and vent area are apricot yellow. Their tail's top surface is green with yellow feather tips and the lower surface is olive-yellow. Immature birds have pale yellow breasts and bellies. Subspecies ''P. m. pallidus'' is similar to the nominate but has a whiter breast and belly and a paler rufous-orange band on the hindneck.Collar, N. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Black-headed Parrot (''Pionites melanocephalus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blhpar4.01 retrieved 4 March 2023 File:Black-headed Parrot (Pionites melanocephalus)3.jpg, Front view File:Black-headed Parrot (Pionites melanocephalus) -side.jpg, Side view File:Black-headed Parrot (Pionites melanocephalus) -back.jpg, Back view

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the black-headed parrot is found from southeastern Colombia east through Venezuela and

the Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch, and French Guiana respectiv ...

and south into Brazil to the Amazon River. Subspecies ''P. m. pallidus'' is found east of the Andes in southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, and northeastern Peru. The species inhabits the canopy, clearings, and edges of humid lowland tropical forest of both '' terra firme'' and '' várzea'' types. It also occurs in

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

. In elevation it ranges as high as but only in small numbers above .

Behavior

Movement

The black-headed parrot is nomadic in French Guiana to follow the pattern of food availability. Its movements elsewhere, if any, have not been documented. The species is typically seen in small flocks of up to about eight individuals.

Feeding

The black-headed parrot feeds on seeds, fruit, flowers, and leaves. Flocks eat palm leaves, apparently for their mineral content, and do not visit clay licks.

Breeding

The black-headed parrot's nesting season varies widely across its range. It includes April and May in Venezuela, October and November in Suriname, and spans from December to February in French Guiana. It nests in tree cavities and the clutch size is believed to be two to four eggs. In captivity the incubation period is 25 days and fledging occurs 10 weeks after hatch.

Vocalization

The black-headed parrot's flight call is " a high-pitched and penetrating squealing "skeeea .. skeeea" also described as "a wheezy or squealing screech, e.g. 'screeéyr, screeyer-screeyer-screeyer'." It is very vocal when perched, where it makes "a variety of calls, some more musical, others rather un-birdlike". Black-headed Caique adult pets in cage

In aviculture

Black-headed parrots are popular in

aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping birds (class '' Aves'') in captivity in controlled conditions, normally within the confines of a ...

. The only ways to determine the sex of an individual black-headed parrot are surgical sexing and

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

sexing. DNA sexing is safer for the bird than surgical sexing. Black-headed parrots are playful and energetic pets. They need a large cage with many toys and perches (they tend to hop more than fly). Cage minimum should be 24" L X 24" W X 36" H, though the larger the better. Maximum bar spacing is 1". The black-headed parrot can have a tendency to bite, so owners may need to set boundaries early on. However, potential owners should prepare for a bird that uses its beak more often than other parrot species. Some Black-headed parrots will poorly mimic human speech. However, they more commonly mimic other surrounding sounds, such as alarm clocks, smoke detectors, microwave-oven beeps, laughs, car alarms, and whistles. In addition, caiques will combine sounds they have picked up to make new ones.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the black-headed parrot as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered generally common throughout its range, and "vast areas of habitat remain". Though it is a very common cage bird in Venezuela, the international pet trade does not appear to be large.