Tui Parakeet (Brotogeris sanctithomae)

Tui Parakeet feeding
© Luiz Claudio Marigo

Photos

Did You Know?

The Tui Parakeet, along with other Brotogeris species, is an arboreal termitarium nester. This means it nests in termite mounds in trees.

Academic Research

Related publications: Brotogeris sanctithomae

Species Profile

Genus: Brotogeris | Species: sanctithomae

Size:

17cm (6.6 in)

Weight:

58g (2 oz)

Subspecies including nominate:

two: B.s. sanctithomae, B.s. takatsukasae

Colour Adult:

B.s. sanctithomae: Both adults in general yellow/green; yellow forehead, lores and forecrown. Bill dark orange/brown. Eye ring bare and pale grey. Eye yellow.
B.s. takatsukasae: Both adults as in sanctithomae, but with yellow streak behind eye to ear coverts.

Colour Juvenile:

B.s. sanctithomae: As in adults, but with darker brown bill. Eye dark grey.

Call:

Calls made in flight are rapid and repetitious screeking. Chatter of entire flock is reminiscent of Budgerigars.

Listen Now

Video Links:

Video 1

More Information:

Avibase

Content Sources:

CITES
BirdLife International
Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Birds of the World
A Guide to Parrots of the World, Juniper and Parr, 1998
ML Media Collection Catalogue 34272, Tui Parakeet Brotogeris sanctithomae, Parker, Theodore A., III, Loreto, Peru, Jan. 20 1985, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Site
Parrots of the World, Forshaw and Cooper, 1977. 2010 edition
Lexicon of Parrots, Thomas Arndt.
Parrots of the World, Forshaw, 2006.
Parrots in Aviculture, Low, 1992.

Tui Parakeet feeding
© Luiz Claudio Marigo

Photos

View in Gallery

Did You Know?

The Tui Parakeet, along with other Brotogeris species, is an arboreal termitarium nester. This means it nests in termite mounds in trees.

Academic Research

Related publications: Brotogeris sanctithomae

Species Care

Captive Status:

Rare.

Longevity:

15 yrs

Housing:

Aviary or suspended enclosure, minimum length 2m (6.5 ft).

Diet:

Fruit such as: apple, pear, banana, pomegranate, cactus fruits, forming about 30 percent of diet; vegetable such as: carrot, celery, green beans, peas in the pod; fresh corn; green leaves such as: Swiss chard, lettuce, sowthistle, dandelion, chickweed; spray millet; small seed mix such as: canary, millet, and smaller amounts of oats, buckwheat, safflower and a little hemp; soaked and sprouted sunflower seed; cooked beans and pulses, boiled maize, and complete kibble.

Enrichment:

Provide water bowls for bathing. Provide foraging/puzzle toys, bird-safe wooden and vegetable tanned leather toys, swings, ladders, ropes, unsprayed branches and perches, and heat sterilized pine cones.

Nest Box Size:

Tree stump or vertical box 8" x 8" x 24" (20.3cm x 20.3cm x 61cm).

Clutch Size:

4-5

Incubation Time:

Probably 24 days.

Fledging Age:

45 days

Hatch Weight:

Not recorded.

Peak Weight:

Not recorded.

Weaning Weight:

Not recorded.

Tui Parakeet feeding
© Luiz Claudio Marigo

Photos

View in Gallery

Did You Know?

The Tui Parakeet, along with other Brotogeris species, is an arboreal termitarium nester. This means it nests in termite mounds in trees.

Academic Research

Related publications: Brotogeris sanctithomae

Species Wild Status

World Population:

Unknown, decreasing.

IUCN Red List Status:

Least Concern

CITES Listing:

Appendix II

Threat Summary:

Locally abundant with little habitat loss affecting the species in Brazil, and common within the limited range occupied in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.

Range:

B.s. sanctithomae: Upper Amazon River at Rio Madeira, E Amazonas, N Brazil, west to SE Colombia, NE Peru, and NE Ecuador, and south along Rio Madeira and tributaries to N Bolivia, in Pando and N Beni and SE Peru.
B.s. takatsukasae: N Brazil, along lower Amazon River from Rio Madeira east on north bank to Amapa and on south bank to Rio Curua, E Para.

Habitat:

Found up to 300m (984 ft) in second growth, moist growth lowland tropical rainforest, varzea on banks of larger rivers and river islets, clearings near sources of water.

Wild Diet:

Diet consists of ripe palm fruits and Erythrina fruit, often taking their blossoms; also manioc and sugarcane plantations. Also seen feeding on guaba (Psidium) fruits and Pachyra aquatica and Cecropia sp.

Ecology and Behaviour:

Social, gathering in small flocks or sometimes larger gatherings. Very large flocks seen at food and water sources. Flocks engage in swift, acrobatic flight with frequent changes in direction.

Clutch and Egg Size:

4-5 eggs, 23.0 x 17.0mm (0.9 x 0.7 in).

Breeding Season:

April-July; nests are in termitaria.

Photos

View in Gallery

Did You Know?

The Tui Parakeet, along with other Brotogeris species, is an arboreal termitarium nester. This means it nests in termite mounds in trees.

Academic Research

Related publications: Brotogeris sanctithomae

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