Also known as:
Cactus Parakeet, Caatinga Parakeet
Also known as:
Cactus Parakeet, Caatinga Parakeet
With Cactus Conures, as well as many other parrot species, both the male and female incubate their eggs.
Eupsittula
cactorum
Size:
25 cm (9.75 in)
Weight:
75-90 g (2.6-3.1 oz)
Subspecies including nominate:
two: E.c.cactorum, E.c. caixana
Colour Adult:
E.c. cactorum: Both adults in general yellow/green; pale brown crown; brown face and upper breast; orange/yellow lower breast and abdomen; green tail tipped with blue. Beak horn-coloured. Eye ring bare and white. Eye orange.
E.c. caixana: Both adults as in cactorum, but paler green body colour; buff/brown throat and breast; abdomen in centre less orange and more yellow.
Colour Juvenile:
Green crown, brown tinge minimal or absent; olive breast and abdomen, with orange tips to some feathers. Eye brown.
Call:
Calls made in flight are strident notes, repeated in short bursts between pauses. Softer notes when feeding.
More Information:
Content Sources:
CITES
BirdLife International
Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Birds of the World
Parrots: A Guide to Parrots of the World, Juniper and Parr, 1998
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.
Captive Status:
Rare in captivity.
Longevity:
Up to 35 yrs.
Housing:
Aviary or suspended enclosure, minimum length 2 m (6.5 ft).
Diet:
Fruit such as: apple, pear, banana, orange, cactus fruits, pomegranate, forming about 30 percent of the diet; vegetables such as: carrots, celery, green beans and peas in the pod; 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 and a little hemp; soaked and sprouted sunflower seed; cooked beans and pulses, boiled maize, and complete pellet.
Enrichment:
Enjoys bathing, so provide overhead misters or shallow bowls of water. Is also a vigorous chewer, so provide bird-safe, unsprayed branches of flowering trees, fir, pine and willow, heat sterilized pine cones, wooden toys, vegetable tanned leather toys, ladders, swings and noise-makers.
Nest Box Size:
Vertical box 8″ x 8″ x 14″ (20.3 cm x 20.3 cm x 35.5 cm).
Clutch Size:
4-6
Fledging Age:
7 weeks
Hatch Weight:
—
Peak Weight:
—
Weaning Weight:
—
World Population:
Unknown but described as fairly common, stable.
IUCN Red List Status:
Least Concern
CITES Listing:
Appendix II
Threat Summary:
This species is sometimes trapped for the bird trade and locally persecuted because of crop-raiding. The caatinga where they live is poorly protected (0·1% of original area inside reserves) and being steadily degraded, which may pose a long term threat.
Range:
E.c. cactorum: Confined to Bahia, south of Rio Sao Francisco, and nearby NE Minas Gerais.
E.c. caixana: West and north of Rio Sao Francisco, in NW Bahia and W Pernambuco north to Ceara, Piaui and SE Maranhao.
Habitat:
Found up to 600 m (1968 ft) in caatinga scrubland dominated by low thorny shrubs and small trees; also found in open semidesert country including overgrazed pastures.
Wild Diet:
Feeds on seeds, Bauhinia flowers, fruits including figs, cactus including Cereus jamacaru, berries, nuts, flowers and buds, and sometimes crops.
Ecology and Behaviour:
Seen in pairs or flocks of up to 20 individuals outside of breeding season. More gather together in groups where food is abundant.
Clutch and Egg Size:
4-6 broadly elliptical eggs, 25.5 x 19.5 mm (1.0 x 0.76 in)
Breeding Season:
January-March. Nest is in arboreal termitarium.
Related Links:
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