Parrots
Blue-headed Macaw (Ara couloni)
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Zoo collection includes: A pair.
Found in the wild: E Peru to W Brazil; N Bolivia, east of Andes in upper tropical forests in disturbed or partly open areas with birds mostly occuring at forest edge along rivers, clearings and forested settled areas. Also in swampy habitats.
See Them at the Central Park Zoo: They live in the Tropical Rain Forest. Look up.
Description: About 15 inches long. Both adults medium-sized, mostly green, blue head, face bare, blue/grey and dark with fine lines of feathers; tail brown/red with green part way to tip. Bill grey/black. Eye yellow.
What do they eat: Macaws eat nuts, seeds, fruit, and sometimes insects.
Life span: About 50 years
Threats: Endangered. Trapping for wild bird trade and forest degradation.
Fun Facts: The Blue-headed Macaw is not usually found in flocks, like other parrots but in pairs or family trios. Quiet, purring call while in flight; soft nasal slightly rasping notes; shrieks and squawks. Macaws have their first and fourth toe pointing backwards.
Blue-throated Conure (Pyrrhura cruentata)
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Zoo collection includes: A pair
Found in the wild: also known as Blue-chested, Blue-throated or Red-rumped Conures, originate from the Atlantic rainforest in eastern Brazil.
See Them at the Central Park Zoo: In the glass enclosed habitat directly before you enter the Tropical Rain Forest.
Description: The Blue-throated Conure is a medium-sized conure, with an approximate length 10 inches from head to tail tip. This green parakeet has a dark brown crown, red ear-coverts, green cheek and orange yellow on sides of neck. It has a blue upper chest, yellow green uppertail, red underside tail feathers, greyish bill, blue outer wing feathers, and red shoulder and belly patch.
What do they eat: The diet consists mainly of tree-fruits, seeds, flowers and berries.
Threats: Habitat destruction and fragmentation have resulted in a massive decline in their numbers.
Fun Facts: This conure nests in a tree cavity. The female usually lays between two to four eggs. Both sexes are similar. The young is duller than adult.
Derbyan Parakeet(Psittacula derbiana)
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Zoo collection includes: Three
Found in the wild: Southeastern Tibet, western Szechwan and northwestern Yunnan, China
See Them at the Central Park Zoo: In the glass enclosure between polar bear and seal, facing the Central Garden.
Description: These parakeets have a lilac breast and abdomen. The nape, back, and wings are emerald green with large yellow-green patches on the wings. The tapered tail is blue. The face is gray with an iridescent blue-green wash, large black moustache-shaped markings on the lower cheeks and neck, and a black line above upper mandible that runs back to the eyes. Males are distinguished from females by their bright coral-red upper mandible, tipped in yellow. The lower mandible is black.
What do they eat: Includes wild figs, wild and orchard fruit, flowers, nectar, berries and leaves
Life span: 15 or 20 years
Threats: The species suffers from poaching for the illegal wildlife trade and fetches a high price in the black market. It is perhaps the rarest of all species of Psittacula in mainland Asia.
Fun Facts: The bills of Derbyan parakeets are designed to nest in tree cavities that woodpeckers have previously dug out. Their markings are great for camouflage among the trees. The green and black feathers are perfect in matching them with the sun shining through the trees. These parakeets are very noisy and are often spotted in flocks of about 40 individuals. There are several different color variations between subspecies that depends on distribution.
Fischer's Lovebird (Agapornis fischeri)
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Zoo collection includes: Five
Found in the wild: Inland plateaus of Northern Tanzania in Eastern Africa. They inhabit isolated shrubs and clumps of trees surrounded by grassy plains. They were originally discovered in the late 1800's
See Them at the Central Park Zoo: Upstairs in the close-up gallery in the tropical rain forest.
Description: About six inches in length. Adults: green body, bright orange-red forehead; cheeks and throat pale orange, yellow-green breast, violet blue rump, green tail feathers tipped in blue, white ring around eye, bright red beak, gray feet.
What do they eat: Fischer's Lovebirds eat a wide variety of foods, including seeds and fruit.
Life span: 10-15 years
Threats: Not threatened
Fun Facts: A noisy bird with a shrill whistle and/or high-pitched twitter. In the wild they are seen in small flocks, and occasionally larger flocks when feeding in ripening crop fields. A lovebird is a very social bird with it's companion, and it is generally thought to be essential for their good health and happiness that they be kept in pairs rather than singly. They can, however, be aggressive towards other birds in an aviary setting.
Golden Conure (Guaruba guarouba)
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Zoo collection includes: A pair
Found in the wild: This species lives in the Maranhao and Para regions of Brazil, where they are nomadic. The Golden Conure prefers upland areas of dry rainforest that protect them from floods. In addition, they avoid deforested areas except while breeding when they wander in the open to nest in trees.
See Them at the Central Park Zoo: In the tropical rain forest. They like to hang around above the beach.
Description: The Golden Conure may grow up to 14 inches. Their feathers are yellow except the flight feathers, which are green. There is a whitish ring around the eye. Their beaks are large.
What do they eat: Golden Conures feed on exotic fruits, flower, buds, and cultured maize.
Life span: 20 or more years
Threats: The Golden Conure has been determined to be endangered, due to increased deforestation and now illegal cage bird trade.
Fun Facts: The Golden Conures are sociable. They are family oriented birds that will care for unrelated young. These birds are inquisitive and playful in captivity but may pluck and eat feathers from each other. Conures have a tendency to spend long periods of time in their nest, even when not breeding. They are playful birds and are said to be clown-like.
White-fronted Amazon (Amazona albifrons)
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Zoo collection includes: A pair
Found in the wild: The White-fronted Amazon is native to Central America and Mexico and is most often seen in small flocks of up to 20 birds.
See Them at the Central Park Zoo: In the tropical rain forest.
Description: About 10 inches long. This species is named for the bright white patch of feathers which is seen on their foreheads, although the amount of white varies from individual to individual. They have green plumage throughout, red coloring around their eyes (in some individuals almost like a mask) and blue coloring on their outspread wings and behind the patch of white on their foreheads. The beak is light yellow and their feeet are light grey / brown-gray. Unlike other amazon species, males and females can be distinguished by appearance (sexual dimorphism): males have bright red feathers on their shoulders (alula), while females have green shoulders.
What do they eat: Fruit and seeds
Life span: About 40 years
Threats: Not threatened
Fun Facts: Like most other amazon parrots, the White-fronted Amazon are noisy. Even though talking is not one of their strong points, some individual birds have developed impressive vocabularies.