Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS

THE PARROTS

Argentine Green Parakeet

Passing over four or five small and a single large genus which agree with the Conures in having the orbital ring complete, we come to the final genera of the group in which this ring is incomplete, a good representative being the Common Green Parakeet (Myopsittacus monachus) of Argentina and near-by countries. In this genus the bill is rather swollen on the sides and the nostrils hidden by the feathers, which project forward from its base. About eleven inches long, this species has the general color green, with the top of the head, lores, cheeks, throat, and breast gray, the feathers with paler margins, while the under parts are yellowish green, the wings blackish with slight bluish edgings, and the bill reddish white.

The Green Parakeet, Mr. Hudson tells us, is a well-known and resident species in Argentina, though much less common than formerly, being a lively, restless bird, shrill-voiced, and exceedingly vociferous, living and breeding in large communities.”The nests are suspended from the extremities of the branches to which they are firmly woven. New nests consist of only two chambers, the porch and the nest proper, and are inhabited by a single pair of birds.

Successive nests are, added, until some of them come to weigh a quarter of a ton, and contain material enough to fill a large cart. Thorny twigs, firmly interwoven, form the only material, and there is no lining in the breeding chamber, even in the breeding season. Some old forest trees have seven or eight of these huge structures suspended from the branches, while the ground underneath is covered with twigs and remains of fallen nests. The entrance is generally underneath, or if at the side is protected by an overhanging eave to prevent the intrusion of opossums. These entrances lead into the porch or outer chamber, and the latter communicates with the breeding chamber.

The breeding chambers are not connected with each other, and each set is used by one pair of birds.”The nests are repaired and frequented all the year round, but new nests are only added at the approach of spring. The breeding season begins about November i, and as many as seven or eight eggs are laid, these being dull white and very thin shelled. In the neighborhood of Concepcion, Mr. Barrows found them abundant and familiar, being usually seen in flocks of twenty and upward, visiting grain-fields, gardens, etc., but sometimes it appears in flocks of tens of thousands, completely stripping the grain-fields. In autumn and summer they feed principally on the seeds of the thistle.

Closely allied to the above but distinguished by having the nostrils exposed and opening in a cere which is much swollen all round, is a genus of some seven little Parakeets (Bolborhynchus), which range from Mexico to northern Chile and Argentina.

 

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