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Turquoise rumpedparrotlet

by Carol NobleAlleghany, California

Forpus Fanciers is a club for peopleinterested in parrotlets. Most of the cur­rent members have or are interested inForpus parrotlet but we are also opento people interested in Touit sp., Nan­nopsittaca sp., and owners and loverof any small parrot. The reason for sucha broad base i that there are severalsmall parrots which are erroneouslycalled parrotlets. The e include theBrotogeris sp., Bolbahynchus sp. and Ihave even been told to include conuresin this parrotlet list.

The definition for a parrotlet is asmall square tailed parrot. All parrotletscome from the Americas (Mexico, Cen­tral, and South America). They are allsmall birds. The largest is about thelength of a budgie, tip to tail, but it has ashort tail and is considerably heavier.The smallest i about four inches - ifyou took that same budgie and cut offhis tail at the base the budgie would bethe same length but considerablyheavier than the parrotlet. The largest isin the Touit sp., being 17 cm. or about 7inches. The smallest is the Forpuspasserinus (green rump parrotlet) at 12cm. or about 4-1/2 inches, this birdlooks much smaller than 4 inches

4 October/ ovember 1985

because of its stance and weight.The Forpus parrotlet voice is more

finch-like than parrot. They can yell butI have only known them to do so whenbeing handled. They have a tendency tobe flighty when first acquired but will, ifgiven time, settle into quiet cage birds.As pet birds the youngsters will tamedown and learn to talk. The limitationof speech I don't believe has been dis­covered because most of us enjoy thenatural twittering so much. Most of thetalking parrotlets I know of just learnedon their own.

Most common of the Forpus parrot­lets seems to be the F. coelestis, Pacificor celestial. This bird is about 4-1/2inches in length, it is grey-green in colorwith a bright green face. The rump andwings are marked with ultramarineblue. The next most common seems tobe the F. passerinus, green rump. Thisbird is running a very close second tothe Coelestis. It again is very small,4 - 4-1/2 inches, and bright green allover. As the name implies, it has a greenrump and blue markings on the wings.The next is the F. cyanopyguis, Mex­ican or turquoise rump. This seems tobe the parrotlet which was the mostcommon thirty years ago and I believe itis still the most common in California.This bird is larger than the other twomentioned at about 5 - 5-1/2 inches. It isa light green with turquoise blue rumpand wing markings. The next to befound is F. xanthopteryguis, blue wing- a lot ofbirds are labeled as blue wingsbut, in fact, are turquoise rumps orPacifics. Even green rumps aresometimes sold as this bird. The bluewing is a small bird about the same sizeas the green rump, 4 -4-1/2 inches. Theyare bright green with blue rump andwing markings. The most well knownseems to be the F. xanthops, yellowface. This bird was only recentlybrought into captivity and is the birdmost people ask about. It is large for aparrotlet at 6 inches, about the size of apeach-face lovebird. It is grey-green,more grey than green, and has a veryyellow face (hence the name) and darkblue-violet markings on the wings andrump. The other two Forpus parrotlets,F. conspicillatus (spectacal) and F.sclateri (Sclater's) are not currently keptin captivity. The Sclater's is a jungle birdand is said to be darker than the othertypes and the spectacal is a small grey­green bird with a green cast to the face.Both have blue markings on the rumpand wing.

All Forpus parrotlets are dimorphicand all but two Touit sp. are dimorphicalso. The henForpus parrotlet will havegreen under wings and usually a greenrump. The hen yellow face has the wingfeathers "tinged" with blue and alighter blue rump than the male. Alsosome of the Pacific hens will have arump as dark as the males but the under­wing will be green. The Touits are notas general as each individual species hasits own markings. The two specieswhich are not dimorphic are the T.batavica - seven-colored parrotlet,and the T. melononata - brownbacked parrotlet.

Anyone who is interested in parrot­lets or in joining Forpus Fanciers cancontact me, Carol Noble, Secretary ­Forpus Fanciers, P.O. Box 872,Alleghany, CA 95910.•

This service is to match unmatedbirds, to bring joy to forlorn singlebirds and their discouraged owners,and to broaden the gene pool in needyspecies.

To list a bird give as much of thefollowing as you can: English name ornames by which it is known, Latinname and sex; your name, address andphone number; one dollar for up tofour birds.

To answer a listing send a separateletter for each bird sought (each onegoes to a different source), including'your name, address and phonenumber; enclose a dollar for each birdsought (to cover mailing yourresponse).

Address all communications to Ms.Cathy Grosse, 3120 Epworth Avenue,Cincinnati, Ohio 45211. Do not writeto the Watchbird!

WANTED:Female scarlet macaw, Ara macaoFemale grey-cheeked parakeet,

BrotogerispyrrhopterusMale Timneh grey parrot, Psittacus

erithacus timnehMale great-billed parrot, Tanygnathus

megalorhynchosmegalorhynchosMale severe macaw, Ara severaMale caninde macaw, Ara canindae

also known as blue-throated macaw,Araglacogularis •

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© 1985 Kaytee Products Incoporated