- Diopsittaca nobilis
Identification
30 cm (8 -9 Inches). The smallest Macaw. Almost entirely green with a red "shoulder" and restricted exposed facial skin.
- upperparts bright green
- forehead mid-blue
- underparts olive-green
- wings green with prominent red wing bend or "shoulder"
- underwing (flight feathers) and undertail a darker shade of yellow-olive green but with a larger red patch on the lesser and median underwing coverts
- eyes orange
- orbital skin white, reduced in area (restricted to the eyes and loral area)
- tail long, narrow
- head large
- bill black or bicoloured with a pale upper mandible (subspecies dependent)
Juvenile is duller lacking the red shoulder and blue forehead
Distribution
South America: found in Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, the Guianas and Brazil.
Everywhere threatened by trapping.
Taxonomy
The species has in the past been placed in genus Ara.
Subspecies
Clements recognises the following subspecies [1]:
- D. n. nobilis: Eastern Venezuela to the Guianas and northern Brazil north of the Amazon
- D. n. cumanensis: Northern Brazil south of lower Amazon to north-eastern Brazil
- D. n. longipennis: South-eastern Peru and north-eastern Bolivia to central and south-eastern Brazil
Habitat
Tropical lowlands, savanna, marshes, gallery forest.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes seeds, berries, fruits, and blossoms. The usually feed in the tops of trees and bushes.
Breeding
They usually nest in a tree hole. The 2-5 eggs are laid two days apart and are incubated for about 24 days. The young fledge at around 8 weeks.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2015)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Red-shouldered Macaw. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-shouldered_Macaw
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
