Thick-billed Parrot

Rhynchopsitta pachyrhynchaOrder: PSITTACIFORMES Family: Parakeets and Parrots (Psittacidae)

Codes: Common Name: TBPA Scientific Name: RHYPAC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 177411

Related Birds

Red-crowned Parrot

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Overview

Thick-billed Parrot: Large green parrot, dark thick bill, orange bare-skinned eye-ring, red forehead, shoulders, thighs. In flight shows striking black tail and flight feathers, with bright green, yellow, and red patches on wing coverts. Gray feet, legs. Swift direct flight with shallow wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Thick-billed Parrot: Resident in the Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico. Formerly ranged as far north as southern Arizona; attempts to reestablish these populations have not been successful. Inhabits mature pine and conifer forests on slopes and mountains, but populations are declining due to deforestation.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"craa-aak"

Interesting Facts

Along with the extinct Carolina Parakeet, the Thick-billed Parrot is one of the only two parrot species whose former range included the United States. They were extirpated from the U.S. by about 1920 due to hunting.

They have been considered endangered since the late 1970's because of habitat loss and severe population reductions. However they are well-established in captive breeding programs in many zoos across the world.

A sentinel is usually posted to scan the skies for raptors while the flock feeds.

A group of parrots has many collective nouns, including a "company", "pandemonium", "prattle", and "psittacosis" of parrots.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Dwight Kirkland

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Thick-billed Parrot

● Song: "craa-aak"

● Foraging & Feeding: Thick-billed Parrot: Extracts seeds from pinecones; flocks of several to hundreds of birds travel long distances in search of food.

● Breeding & nesting: Thick-billed Parrot: Lays one to four glossy white eggs. Female incubates for 25 to 28 days while male brings her food. Altricial young remain in nest 59 to 65 days. Breeding coincides with pine seed crops, usually beginning in April or May.

● Similar species: Thick-billed Parrot: Maroon-fronted Parrot has dark maroon-red forehead and lacks yellow patches on wings.

Flight Pattern

Flight powerful but casual with shallow wingbeats, often seen at great heights and often glides or travels in V formations.

● Range & Habitat: Thick-billed Parrot: Resident in the Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico. Formerly ranged as far north as southern Arizona; attempts to reestablish these populations have not been successful. Inhabits mature pine and conifer forests on slopes and mountains, but populations are declining due to deforestation.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight15 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Flight feathers

Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.

Wing coverts

The feathers that cover and protect the flight feathers.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America