Blue-winged Parrotlet (Forpus xanthopterygius)
(aka Forpus crassirostris according to HBW, Volume 4, Page 449 but Brett Whitney and José Fernando Pacheco demonstrated that xanthopterygius was the correct name for the species in Bull. B.O.C. 119[4]: 211-214, 1999)
Blue-winged Parrotlet, Januária, Minas Gerais, Brazil, February 2002 - click for larger image Brazil

The Blue-winged Parrotlet is the smallest Brazilian parrot weighing in at 26 g compared to the largest, the Hyacinth Macaw at 1500 g.
Female Blue-winged Parrotlet, Boa Nova, Bahia, Brazil, July 2002 - click for larger image It is found from eastern Ecuador to Brazil south of the river Amazon and into Paraguay and northern Argentina. There is also a disjunct population near Santa Marta, Colombia. It likes a variety of habitats ranging from gallery forest and riverine thickets to savannah and semi-arid scrub.

The Forpus genus is one of the few groups of parrots where females differ markedly from males. The male Blue-winged Parrotlet shows blue along the edge of the wing and on the rump while the female is all green apart from a yellowish tinge on the head and flanks.

They nest in holes in trees and fence posts as well as using Rufous Hornero nests.

Food consists of fruit and seeds including grass seeds and they are particularly fond of Cecropia catkins.

There are illustrations in HBW, Volume 4, Page 449; Sick, Plate 17 ; Hilty & Brown, Plate 10; and Ridgely & Greenfield, Plate 31.
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