Birdfinding.info ⇒ Common to locally abundant in many parts of its natural range, where it is easy to find along the main stem of the Amazon, including the Manaus area. In the U.S., traditional stakeouts are at the Huntington Park City Hall in Los Angeles and the Ocean Bank at NW 7th Street and 42nd Avenue in Miami. On Puerto Rico, most readily found in San Juan’s Río Piedras neighborhood at the University of Puerto Rico and the Botanical Garden. Also at several sites in the southwest, especially city parks in San Germán.
White-winged Parakeet
Brotogeris versicolurus
Amazonia; introduced elsewhere in the Americas. Riparian bottomlands, especially in várzea forest.
Natural range is mainly along the Amazon and some of its large tributaries from southern Colombia and northern Peru east to northeastern Pará, and on the coastal plain north to French Guiana. Occurs locally in the Andean foothills of San Martín, Peru, where it could be either native or introduced.
Introduced populations are established: along the Pacific coast of South America around Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Chiclayo, Trujillo, and Lima, Peru; on Puerto Rico; and in Los Angeles, California, and southeastern Florida from Pompano Beach to Homestead.
Identification
A small parakeet with extensively white wings, readily identified in flight. At rest, when the white patches are concealed, can be confused with Yellow-chevroned Parakeet.
White-winged Parakeet, flock in flight showing distinctive wing pattern. (Santarém, Pará, Brazil; December 11, 2017.) © Oliver Metcalf
White-winged Parakeet. (Miami, Florida; March 29, 2016.) © Scott Sneed
White-winged Parakeet. (Miami, Florida; March 3, 2018.) © Steven Glynn
White-winged Parakeet. (Miami, Florida; March 3, 2018.) © Steven Glynn
White-winged Parakeet. (Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil; April 29, 2016.) © Cláudia Brasileiro
White-winged Parakeet. (Huntington Park, California; April 6, 2019.) © Curtis Marantz
White-winged Parakeet. (Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil; April 29, 2016.) © Cláudia Brasileiro
White-winged Parakeet. (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; November 10, 2017.) © Luiz Muñoz
White-winged Parakeet. (Miami, Florida; April 27, 2018.) © Matt Anthony
White-winged Parakeet. (Legg Lake, Whittier, California; February 16, 2016.) © Brittany O’Connor
White-winged Parakeet, flock showing white wing patches. (Río Yarapa, Loreto, Peru; June 26, 2016.) © Bob White
White-winged Parakeet, large flock, recognizable by their white wings even at very long range. (Lago Piranha, Loreto, Peru; March 22, 2018.) © Ed Harper
Cf. Yellow-chevroned Parakeet.
White-winged and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets reportedly overlap without interbreeding in eastern Pará, and occur together as introduced species in Los Angeles and southern Florida (with some hybridization).
Both species have a broad yellow bar on the upperside of the wing, usually visible when the wing is folded.
White-winged also has largely white flight feathers (secondaries and inner primaries) that are conspicuous on both sides of the spread wing. When its wing is folded tight, however, it may appear essentially identical to Yellow-chevroned.
Yellow-chevroned has a white eyering that is usually pronounced and visible at close range. White-winged typically has either an indistinct whitish eyering or none at all.
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet. (Brasília, Brazil; July 19, 2018.) © André Zambolli
Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, with one White-winged Parakeet. (Legg Lake, Whittier, California; February 6, 2016.) © Lance Benner
White-winged Parakeet. (Huntington Park, California; February 28, 2019.) © Albert Linkowski
White-winged and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, with apparent hybrid offspring. (Plantation Preserve, Florida; April 28, 2017.) © David Hall
Notes
Monotypic species. Formerly considered conspecific with Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, together comprising the Canary-winged Parakeet, B. versicolurus, but the visual differences are striking.
References
Alderfer, J., and J.L. Dunn. 2014. National Geographic Complete Birds of North America (Second Edition). National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C.
BirdLife International. 2018. Brotogeris versicolurus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22685959A131918421. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22685959A131918421.en. (Accessed May 11, 2019.)
Collar, N., A. Bonan, and P. Boesman. 2018. White-winged Parakeet (Brotogeris versicolurus). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/54692. (Accessed July 28, 2018.)
Forshaw, J.M. 2010. Parrots of the World. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
McMullan, M., and T. Donegan. 2014, Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia (Second Edition). Fundación Proaves de Colombia, Bogotá.
Schulenberg, T.S., D.F. Stotz, D.F. Lane, J.P. O’Neill, and T.A. Parker. 2007. Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
van Perlo, B. 2009. A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
WikiAves, Periquito-de-asa-branca, http://www.wikiaves.com.br/periquito-de-asa-branca.