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Watercolour of Roseicolli

by Ria Winters

Most parrot lovers know the books “Histoires Naturelles des Perroquets” of French ornithologist François Le Vaillant (if the books are not familiar, the collectible colour plates might be).
The first two volumes were published during Vaillant’s life (in 1801 and 1805). The last one was published in 1838 by Alex Bourjot Saint-Hilaire, in the same spirit as the other two, fourteen years after Le Vaillant’s death.

I’m fortunate to have access to all three books (Artis Library, Amsterdam). A few weeks ago I went through the third book and came across the plate of the Roseicolli. Most of the drawings in the Perroquet books are without background but the Roseicolli is portrayed with a flower. It inspired me to making this painting.



Roseicollis are popular lovebirds; they are cute and beautiful with the red and pink rose on the face, the different shades of green and the bright blue rump.

Other names are Rosy-faced lovebird or Peach-faced lovebird. The first description of this bird comes from another French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot; the third Perroquet volume testifies of this. Vieillot placed the bird with the genus Psittacula (Psittacus roseicollis) but later it was moved to the genus Agapornis with the other lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis).
In the book it is called “La Perruche a gorge rose” (parakeet with pink throat).

The species is native in Angola, Namibia and South Africa. It is introduced in Puerto Rico. The IUCN category is “least concern”.

Posted by Ria Winters on 02/07 at 11:42 AM

More Echo Parakeets

by Ria Winters

I’m still working on a series of Mauritius paintings and just finished this one of the Echo Parakeets. The problem with painting Echos is that they are all green and their natural surroundings are green as well. So it took me a while to think of a good way to portray them; it resulted in a mix of pencil drawing and watercolour paint..
The pencil drawings of the plant is the endemic fangame Stillingia lineata on which the Echos feed. This plant is abundant in the intermediate and upland forest; luckily it is not rare like many other endemic plant species on the island.



Close up of painting

Posted by Ria Winters on 10/03 at 08:58 AM

Beautiful Echos

by Ria Winters

Last May I make a field study to Mauritius. The goal of this expedition was to create a portrait of Mauritius and its wildlife, focusing on the geography of the island and the endemic species, with a primary focus on the Echo Parakeet.
The project was sponsored by the Artists for Conservation Foundation (AFC). The AFC seeks do establish legacies from expeditions that will raise funds for conservation organizations. In my case the beneficiary is the Echo parakeet project of the World Parrot Trust.
After spending time finishing the handwritten, illustrated log and sorting out hundreds of photographs I finally sat down to concentrate on making paintings.
The first result is shown below. I’m going to finish some more and then make a selection that could serve as a source for WPT cards or prints.

Mauritius is an extraordinary island for several reasons, the most important being the salvation of the only parrot species of the Western Indian Ocean islands.
The island was colonized from 1598 on, first by the Dutch, then by the French and after that by the British. All three nations went out of their way to destroy the natural habitat in which the endemic species lived. Many species died out, the most well known being the Dodo, the Rodrigues Solitaire and six or seven Mascarene parrot species.
For those who don’t exactly know where Mauritius is: it’s approximately one and a half hour flying from Madagascar, to the east and it’s part of the Mascarene islands.

The maps below show the dramatic state of deforestation over the centuries. The few black spots that are left on map no. 5 represent the original endemic forest. I have visited two of those areas, one being the off coast island sanctuary of Ile aux Aigrettes which hosts lowland coastal forest and the other being the Black River Gorges National park with upland wet and dry forest which is located in the south west of Mauritius.


The Black River NP covers an area of approx. 70 km2. It is the main home of the Echo parakeet also called Mauritius parakeet (Psittacula Echo), or just short “Echo”.
The Echos are closely related to the Indian Ring-necked Parakeet (Psittacula krameri). On pictures they look similar but seeing Echos in the wild makes you realize they look quite different from their cousins. The Echo is a little larger, their green is different (a more ‘mossy’ green with more shades of it), it has rounded wings and the tail is noticeably shorter. And what is really different is their call. The call of the Echo is like the call of a parrot ('kaaark kaaark') The call of the Indian Ring-necked Parakeet (which are easily spotted in the parks of Amsterdam where I regularly see them) is more the chattering call of a parakeet. Also the pink neck band is different; the Echo has more of a collar while the Krameri has a ring.

The Echo was once on of the most rare bird species in the world. Their habitat was destroyed by forest logging and black rats were competing for food and (nesting)cavities and were predating the parakeet’s eggs.


The project to save the Echo Parakeet from extinction begun in 1974 when the situation was almost hopeless and only took off after funding of the WPT in 1990. At this time there were only 12 individuals left. The course and success of the project can be read on the online publications of Psittascene on the WPT website. The survival of the species is the result of the diligence and personal motivation of a few people who did not always find readily help of the Mauritian government as I learned from my guide dr. Carl Jones who is the most important drive behind the project of saving the Echos. When walking around in the relatively small area of Black River NP and seeing the Echos flying around freely and interacting with each other you realize it’s a miracle that this species still exists.
Although there are approximately 400 individuals at the moment it is nonetheless a fragile population. Threats like the outbreak of Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) are a serious matter that make you worry about the only parrot in the Western Indian Ocean. The painting below shows my vision on this parrot: a unique species that exists on a tropical island, like survivors on a raft.

Posted by Ria Winters on 07/31 at 07:39 AM

Spix and the Spix’s macaw

by Ria Winters

This is another study of the Spix’s Macaws.
Included in the painting is some of the history of this bird.
Most of you know that Cyanopsitta spixii was named after it’s discoverer, J.B. von Spix, but not many may know that Spix had originally given it another name which was Arara Hyacinthinus.
Johann Baptist von Spix (1781 – 1826) was a German naturalist. During his relatively short life he compiled an impressive list of publications he made after his expeditions.
From 1817 until 1820 he travelled through Brazil together with another naturalist named Von Martius, returning with specimens of 6,500 plants, 2,700 insects, 85 mammals, 350 birds, 150 amphibians and 116 fish. These formed the basis of the collection of the Natural History Museum in Munich of which Spix was the first conservator. During this Brazilian expedition he discovered the Spix’s Macaw.

The journeys of these early naturalists are impressive; they were brave pioneers that had none of the comforts of our modern way of traveling. Unfortunately Spix lost his life to his Brazilian adventure: he died in 1926, six years after his return from the ills contracted during the trip.
He wrote a 4-volume narrative of the expedition “Reise in Brasilien in den Jahren 1817 bis 1820”. The volume that I found in the library depot of the University of Amsterdam is not so much a travel log but more of a documentary with stunning drawings and etchings. How did someone in such a difficult journey make such beautiful and detailed art? Or maybe the art was done afterwards by an artist working on the instruction of Spix? The book doesn’t say but it definitely deserves more attention than the oblivioun it is in now.
One of the maps shows the area where Spix discovered his blue macaw for the first time: in Joazeiro at the Sao Francisco river in the province of Bahia.
I painted part of the map as a background for the parrots.


(This is a page from the Brazilian journal.)


He also published a book about birds in Brazil called “Avium Brasiliensium Species Novae”. In this book he describes our parrot for the first time. He calls it Arara Hyacinthinus to distinguish it from the other blue macaw in his book that he calls Anodorhynchus Maximiliani (this is the macaw that we now know as the Hyacinth Macaw). In fact, Spix came up with Anodorhynchus as a new species name for the large blue macaws with their notched bills. The Spix's Macaw obviously did not belong to this group hence Arara.
The Spix’s Macaw remains a so called monotype genus: the only member of the genus Cyanopsitta (Cyanopsitta translates to blue parrot).
Anyway, I included part of Spix’s latin description in my painting too (above, left).
J.G. Wagler, first assistant to Spix and later Director of the Zoological Museum at the University of Munich, renamed the bird in 1932 and gave it the name of the man who discovered it. Good for him because the Arara Hyacinthinus was confusing because of the other blue parrot.

Hundred and seventy years after its discovery the Spix’s Macaw became extinct in the wild.
Luckily the species is conserved by a captive population. There are approx. 70 individuals and there are a several breeding programs that will pave the way for future reintroductions.

Posted by Ria Winters on 05/05 at 12:12 AM

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