Today's new Birdorable bird is our 102nd new species of parrot! Welcome the Blue-headed Parrot to our flock!
The Blue-headed Parrot is a medium-sized parrot with a range in and around the Amazon basin in South America. They feed on fruits, berries, and seeds. These darlings are cavity nesters, using either living trees or dead tree stumps.
Blue-headed Parrots have a mostly bright green plumage along with their namesake blue head. Males and females look alike.
Tomorrow we'll add a small species of finch found in sub-Saharan Africa. They have a fiery red plumage and males sport white spots on their flanks. Do you know the species?
Today's new Birdorable bird is a species that feeds almost exclusively on sticky fig fruits. Today Pesquet's Parrot joins our family!
The Pesquet's Parrot is a large species of parrot found in New Guinea rainforest habitat. These birds are specialist frugivores, feeding mostly on figs. These sticky fruits could get matted in feathers, so the Pesquet's Parrot has developed a strategy to avoid this: they have nearly bald heads! This gives them the nickname "Vulturine Parrot".
Besides their bald heads, Pesquet's Parrots can be identified by their dark plumage, with scallops on the breast, and bright red patches on the belly and wings.
Tomorrow's new species is a warbler-like New World bird with a fruit-like name. This bird has over 40 recognized subspecies! Can you guess the bird?
Today's new Birdorable species is a parrot endemic to Australia, where it is found along the eastern coast. Today we introduce the Birdorable Australian King-Parrot!
Australian King-Parrots display sexual dimorphism -- males and females have different coloration. Our Birdorable cartoon is of a male bird, which has red on the head and chest, with blue-green elsewhere. Females have a similar color palette but the arrangement is different: green at the head, back and chest; red at the belly; and blue at the rump.
Australian King-Parrots are fairly gregarious and can be found flocking with rosella parrots within their range.
Male Australian King Parrot by Mike's Birds (CC BY-SA 2.0)Female Australian King Parrot by Tatters (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Tomorrow we'll add a duck to Birdorable! The new species is known for its bright feet and beak, and belongs to a family named for the way it sounds! Can you guess the species?
World Parrot Day is celebrated this year on May 31, 2019. The first World Parrot Day was in 2004.
The event was initiated by the World Parrot Trust as an opportunity to highlight threats to wild and captive parrots around the world. Actions that began on that first World Parrot Day led to the eventual ban of wild bird imports into Europe.
Today we wrap up our 2018 Birdorable Bonanza with a species of South American parrot: the Scaly-headed Parrot!
This pretty bird is a medium-sized parrot native to eastern parts of South America, where it can be found in a variety of forest habitats. It is named for the scalloped feathers on its head that look like scales.
Scaly-headed Parrots are one of the most popular species of pet bird, and are thus known by a variety of alternate names, including Scaly-headed Pionus and Maximilian Parrot. They can live to be 40 years old or more when well cared for in captivity.
Thanks for following along during our 10th annual Birdorable Bonanza!
Our Birdorable Bonanza: 2015 Advent Edition continues today with a parrot that lives Down Under: the Superb Parrot!
The Superb Parrot is a medium-sized species of parrot endemic to Australia, where it is found in the southeastern states of New South Wales and Victoria. They consume a diet primarily made up of plant material, including seeds, fruits, flowers, pollen, and nectar.
Superb Parrots have a mostly green body plumage. Male birds have yellow across the forehead, face, and neck, which is outlined by red at the top of the breast. They have pretty orange or yellow-orange eyes.
Superb Parrots are found in aviculture, or the pet bird trade, where they are known to live up to 30 years. They are known by other names in aviculture, including Barraband's Parrot, Barraband's Parakeet, and Green Leek Parrot.
Superb Parrot by Ron Knight (CC BY 2.0)
The Superb Parrot is our 631st Birdorable bird. Our Bonanza continues tomorrow with a songbird found on both sides of the Pacific Ocean that goes by two common names. Can you guess tomorrow's species?
