The cobalt-winged parakeet (''Brotogeris cyanoptera'') is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

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 ...

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 ...

, 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 January 30, 2023

Taxonomy and systematics

The International Ornithological Committee and the Clements taxonomy attribute the first description of the cobalt-winged parakeet to August von Pelzeln, dated 1870. Pelzeln called it ''Sittace cyanoptera'' and separated it from what is now the

orange-chinned parakeet The orange-chinned parakeet (''Brotogeris jugularis''), also known as the Tovi parakeet, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found from southern Mexico through Central Ame ...

(''Brotogeris jugularis'').Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022 Peters, in his ''Check-list of Birds of the World'', cited Tommaso Salvadori (1891) as the originator, and this citation is used by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

's ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

''.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022 The cobalt-winged parakeet has these three subspecies: *''B. c. cyanoptera'' ( Pelzeln, 1870) *''B. c. gustavi'' Berlepsch, 1889 *''B. c. beniensis'' Gyldenstolpe, 1941 Subspecies ''B. c. gustavi'' has been treated as a separate species by some authors. The cobalt-winged and golden-winged parakeet (''B. chrysoptera'') are sister species.Collar, N. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Cobalt-winged Parakeet (''Brotogeris cyanoptera''), 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.cowpar1.01 retrieved February 21, 2023

Description

The cobalt-winged parakeet is long and weighs an average of . The species is almost entirely green that is darker on its upperparts. Adults of the

nominate subspecies In 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), but that can successfully interbreed. ...

''B. c. cyanoptera'' have a yellowish forehead, an orange chin, and a blue tinge on their crown and nape. Their flight feathers are blue; their central tail feathers are also blue and the rest are green. Immature birds are a duller version of the adult. Subspecies ''B. c. gustavi'' has very little blue on its head and a yellow edge on the carpals. ''B. c. beniensis'' is paler than the nominate with a similar amount of blue on its head and a yellow carpal edge like ''gustavi''.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of the cobalt-winged parakeet are found thus: *''B. c. cyanoptera'', the upper

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

in eastern and southeastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, western Guyana, eastern Ecuador and Peru, northwestern Bolivia, and west-central Brazil *''B. c. gustavi'', the upper Huallaga River valley of northern Peru *''B. c. beniensis'', northeastern and central Bolivia from Beni to Santa Cruz The cobalt-winged parakeet inhabits a variety of landscapes including the edges and interior of

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

, secondary forest, '' várzea '', savanna, and Llanos. In elevation it commonly reaches and occasionally .

Behavior

Movement

The cobalt-winged parakeet is thought to be mostly sedentary but might make some seasonal elevational movements.

Feeding

Little is known about the cobalt-winged parakeet's foraging technique and diet. It has been recorded feeding on flowers, fruits, and '' Cecropia'' catkins. It also eats mineral-impregnated soil.

Breeding

The cobalt-winged parakeet's breeding season is not well known but apparently includes June and July in the western part of its range. It nests in tree cavities. Captive pairs lay clutches of about five eggs that hatch in 24 days.

Vocalization

The cobalt-winged parakeet's common calls are " a high-pitched “klee”, shrill “chree” or bisyllabic “chree-chree”" that are given both when perched and in flight. Another call is "a fast chattering series “chichichichichi”." Members of flocks call simultaneously and make "a shrill chattering".

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 cobalt-winged parakeet as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range; its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is " mmon throughout range...with no recent evidence of trade, hence rare in captivity."

References

External links

World Parrot Trust
Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles

VIREO {{Taxonbar, from=Q657630 cobalt-winged parakeet Birds of the Amazon rainforest Birds of the Venezuelan Amazon Birds of the Colombian Amazon Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of Peruvian Amazonia Birds of the Bolivian Amazon cobalt-winged parakeet Parakeets Taxonomy articles created by Polbot