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Red-crowned Parrot

ID Info
  • Red-crowned Parrot
  • Red-crowned Parrot
  • Red-crowned Parrot  video
Silhouette ParrotsParrots
Red-crowned ParrotAmazona viridigenalis
  • ORDER: Psittaciformes
  • FAMILY: Psittacidae

Basic Description

Red-crowned Parrots usually announce themselves with throaty screeches, well before they're seen. They are native to a small region of northeastern Mexico and South Texas, and some escaped individuals have set up breeding populations in a few large cities. These large, leaf-green parrots fly with shallow, fluttery wingbeats and then abruptly disappear when they land in treetops. Like many parrot species, their numbers have been decimated by the illegal cage bird trade, and Red-crowned Parrots are on the Red Watch List.

More ID Info
image of range map for Red-crowned Parrot
Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding
Range map provided by Birds of the World
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Find This Bird

Within their native range, which includes South Texas cities such as Brownsville, Red-crowned Parrots can be easy to find. Watch for them flying fairly high with distinctive shallow wingbeats, especially in morning and evening as they travel to and from roost sites. These long-lived birds often use the same areas for decades, such as in the pecan trees of Oliveira Park in Brownsville, making them easier to locate.

Other Names

  • Amazona Tamaulipeca (Spanish)
  • Amazone à joues vertes (French)
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