Member Login

Username

Password

Auto-login for future visits

Join or Renew Today!

Membership Benefits:

Close Button

Yellow-faced Parrotlet

 (Forpus xanthops)
 
Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Yellow-faced Parrotlet
© Nick Athanas [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr

Did You Know?

Parrotlets were kept in France as long ago as 1682.

Academic Research

Related publications: Forpus xanthops

Species Profile

Genus: Forpus | Species: xanthops

Size:

14.5cm (5.6 in)

Weight:

35g (1.2 oz)

Subspecies including nominate:

one

Colour Adult:

Male-bright yellow forehead, crown, cheeks and throat; occiput and nape purple/grey, extending in a stripe to eye; olive/grey mantle, upper back and lesser wing coverts to scapulars and inner secondary feathers; deep blue lower back, rump, upper tail coverts and underwing coverts; purple/blue secondary coverts; inner primary feathers suffused with blue at bases; green/yellow underparts. Bill horn in colour with grey at base of upper mandible. Eye brown.  Female-as in male but lower back and rump paler blue in colour; primary and secondary coverts, secondary feathers and bases to primary feathers all green tinged with blue.

Colour Juvenile:

As in adults but dull overall, less yellow on face. Grey absent on bill.

Call:

Quiet tweets and chirps.

Listen Now

Video Links:

Video 1 | Video 2

More Information:

AvianWeb

Content Sources:

CITES
BirdLife International
Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Birds of the World
Parrots: A Guide to the Parrots of the World, Juniper and Parr, 1998
Parrots: Status Survey and Conservation Plan 2000-2004, Snyder, McGowan, Gilardi and Grajal, 2000.
Parrots of the World, Forshaw, 2006. 2010 edition
Parrots in Aviculture, Low, 1992.
Lexicon of Parrots, Thomas Arndt.
Psittacine Aviculture, Schubot, Clubb and Clubb, 1992.
Parrots: Their Care and Breeding, Low, 1986.

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Yellow-faced Parrotlet
© Nick Athanas [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr

Did You Know?

Parrotlets were kept in France as long ago as 1682.

Academic Research

Related publications: Forpus xanthops

Species Care

Captive Status:

Rare; unknown until 1979 or so.

Longevity:

15-25 yrs.

Housing:

Walk-in enclosure, minimum length 2.1m (7 ft) or indoor aviary minimum length 1.8m (6 ft).

Diet:

Small seed mix: canary, millet and smaller amounts of oats, buckwheat and safflower; limited sunflower seed; spray millet; seeding grasses; green leaves such as: Swiss chard, lettuce, dandelion, chickweed, sowthistle; rearing food made with hard-cooked eggs, carrot and wholegrain bread all ground up; fruits such as: apple, pear, etc; complete kibble.

Enrichment:

Bathing using overhead misters or shallow water bowls, socialization; swings, ladders, perches, chew items (fir, pine, willow twigs, sterilized pine cones, vegetable tanned leather), foraging toys, puzzle toys.

Nest Box Size:

6" x 6" x 6" (15.2cm x 15.2cm 15.2cm) vertical box

Clutch Size:

3 to 6

Incubation Time:

22 days

Fledging Age:

5-6 weeks

Hatch Weight:

Not recorded.

Peak Weight:

Not recorded.

Weaning Weight:

Not recorded.

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Yellow-faced Parrotlet
© Nick Athanas [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr

Did You Know?

Parrotlets were kept in France as long ago as 1682.

Academic Research

Related publications: Forpus xanthops

Species Wild Status

World Population:

350-1500

IUCN Red List Status:

Vulnerable

CITES Listing:

Appendix II

Threat Summary:

Trapping for the wild bird trade, where the mortality rate during capture is estimated at 40-100%. An emerging threat is the construction of four dams on the Rio Marañón.

Range:

NW Peru; confined to upper Rio Marañón valley, from E La Libertad north to SE Cajamarca and S Amazonas.

Habitat:

Found from 800-1000m (2624-3280 ft), rarely 2400m (7872 ft), in arid, lightly wooded habitats in the upper tropical and subtropical areas including scrub, riparian vegetation, open balsa woodland, cactus montane desert and open country with scattered vegetation.

Wild Diet:

Food items include cactus and tree fruits, seeds of Cercidium praecox and flowers including Bombax discolor; also forages on the ground for grass and wheat seeds.

Ecology and Behaviour:

Social birds; roosts communally. Up to 70 pairs in communal nesting area.

Clutch and Egg Size:

3 to 6 eggs

Breeding Season:

March-April; nests reportedly seen in natural dirt and rock walls in colonies of up to 70 birds. Old woodpecker cavities are also used.

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Yellow-faced Parrotlet
© Nick Athanas [CC BY 2.0] via Flickr

Did You Know?

Parrotlets were kept in France as long ago as 1682.

Academic Research

Related publications: Forpus xanthops

Members Only Resources

Please log-in now to find more research, resources and tools.

Not a Member?

Find more great information:

Gain exclusive access to 600+ pages of additional research, seminars and podcasts, specialists to ask your toughest questions, and dozens of other fun resources - when you become a WPT member.

Already a Member?

Encyclopedia

Search by:
Common Name


Geographic Location


Type of Parrot


Taxonomic Name


Sign Up to Stay Informed




Become A WPT Member Check out the Latest Podcasts