Blue-Headed Parrot
Pionus menstruus
Habitat
Mid-canopy
Diet
PlantSeed
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
251 g
About This Species
This stocky, short-tailed parrot travels in noisy, fast-flying flocks through the forest canopy of Central and South America, often detected first by shrill, chattering calls overhead before the blue-tinted head and green body come into view. It favours fruiting and flowering trees, where it can gather in numbers to feed, and forest edges or clearings give the clearest sightlines as flocks pass between feeding sites. Early morning and late afternoon flight movements between roosting and feeding areas are the most reliable times to see it.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Parrots in fruiting trees can sometimes be watched at reasonably close range if approached slowly and quietly, but a sudden noise or movement will scatter the whole flock, so patience from a fixed position works better than pursuit.
- This species is popular in the illegal pet trade in parts of its range, so avoid any activity that could be mistaken for capturing or baiting birds, and never attempt to handle or feed wild individuals.
- Protection status and enforcement vary by country across its range, so rely on general caution rather than a single assumed rule.
Seasonal Activity
257,333 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
Traits
- Diet
- PlantSeed
- Foraging
- Mid-canopy
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 251 g
Photo
(c) Arman Moreno, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Arman Moreno
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.