Thick-billed Parrot
A species of Thick-billed Parrots Scientific name : Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha Genus : Thick-billed Parrots
Thick-billed Parrot, A species of Thick-billed Parrots
Botanical name: Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha
Genus: Thick-billed Parrots
Content
Description General Info
Photo By juancarrilloc , used under CC-BY-NC-4.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
The thick-billed parrot is a medium-sized, bright green parrot with a large black bill and red forecrown, shoulder and thighs. Adult eyes are amber, while juveniles have brown eyes. The rest of the bird is bright green. Thick-billed parrots show red shoulders and leading edge on the underwing, followed by a blackish green stripe, then a yellow stripe, followed by the remaining underwing showing dark green. The tail is black. It is 38 cm (15 in) long and weighs 315-370 g. Thick-billed parrots have lived up to 33 years in captivity. It is similar in appearance to the military macaw Ara militaris, which is larger with a proportionally longer tail and blue flight feathers and rump, and the lilac-crowned amazon Amazona finschi (note that these are not the phylogenetically closest relatives - see Taxonomy). The voice of the thick-billed parrot resembles a high-pitched macaw and includes a variety of harsh, rolling calls described as similar to human laughter. Although readily becoming hand-tame, the species is nervous and difficult to breed in captivity, with very low reproduction rates. Captive birds are fair voice mimics and can learn a few phrases and words. However, their piercing calls and comparatively duller coloration has prevented them from becoming popular pet trade birds, and currently there is little demand for them as illegally wild-caught or captive bred birds. Like other parrots, they manipulate their food by holding it with one foot. Highly social, they may feed each other food stored in their crop (a pouch in the throat), and spend their free time preening each other. Groups of over 1,000 birds in one place are known from historical records. 
Size
23 - 41 cm
Life Expectancy
40 years
Nest Placement
Cavity
Feeding Habits
Thick-billed Parrot primarily consume pine seeds and acorns, using their strong beaks to forage. They exhibit specialized feeding adaptations to extract seeds, preferring to dine at dawn and dusk.
Habitat
Temperate conifer forests
Dite type
Herbivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
The thick-billed parrot, like most parrots, nests in tree cavities, especially old woodpecker holes. In the past it is believed to have relied extensively on abandoned nesting holes made by the now-extinct imperial woodpecker, the world's largest woodpecker. The imperial woodpecker was found in Mexico and likely Arizona as well; its decline and eventual extinction may have been a factor in the reduction of the parrot's range. In parts of its existing range, dead or living quaking aspens are the dominant tree selected for nesting. It mainly feeds on seeds from various pine species. Mexican white pine appears to be a preferred species but the seeds of Douglas fir, Apache pine, Chihuahua pine, and yellow pine are also taken. The species is strongly dependent on the supply of conifer cones, breeding at the peak of pine seed production. The species is nomadic, following the variations of cone abundance. To a much lesser extent, they also feed upon acorns and pine buds. They are adept fliers, and historical accounts describe the birds sleeping in one mountain range, and crossing vast distances to feed in another mountain range each day. They deal with deep snow by hanging upside-down and climbing on the bare underside of a snow-covered branch in order to access cones.
Distribution Area
The thick-billed parrot lives in temperate conifer, pine, mature pine-oak and fir forests at elevation of 1200–3600 meters. It is largely restricted to the Sierra Madre Occidental in Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico. Its former range included the United States including Arizona and New Mexico. Early accounts also place them in far west Texas (Audubon, El Paso, 1827), and possibly as far north as Utah. Accounts in both Arizona and New Mexico indicate birds visiting regularly, as well as over-wintering in Arizona. However, these accounts co-occurred with heavy shooting, logging, and development that extirpated the thick-billed parrot from its US range. The disruption of Native American ways of life greatly decreased the range of some bird species (e.g., the boreal owl) that utilized Native American irrigation and farm land, and it is possible that the thick-billed parrot also suffered from this effect of European colonization. Since its extirpation, the green parakeet remains the only extant native parrot species in the United States. The last reliable reports of the birds in the southwestern United States were in 1935 and 1938 in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Parrots Family
Parrots Genus
Thick-billed Parrots Species
Thick-billed Parrot 
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