Birdfinding.info ⇒ The Dutch Antillean endemic form of Brown-throated Parakeet is generally common on Curaçao and Bonaire, including neighborhoods of Willemstad and Kralendijk, many of the golf and beach resorts, as well as natural areas such as Christoffel and Washington Slagbaai National Parks. The introduced Virgin Islands population is common on St. Thomas, but scarce or sporadic elsewhere.
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”
Eupsittula pertinax pertinax
Endemic to Curaçao and Bonaire, where it inhabits desert scrub, dry forest, and settled areas.
Introduced populations are established on Saba in the Leeward Islands and in the Virgin Islands—principally on St. Thomas, with limited expansion or occasional wandering to St. John, Jost van Dyke, and Tortola. Formerly also on Culebra, Vieques, and the eastern tip of Puerto Rico, but extirpated from these islands in 1970s or ‘80s.
Identification
Unmistakable: a green parakeet with a yellow head.
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Bonaire; May 22, 2019.) © Sandy & Bob Sipe
The Bonaire population (xanthogenia) tends to have a slightly yellower tone and more extensive yellow, variably including most or all of the crown, whereas the Curaçao population has a more orangish tone and tends to have more green on the crown. However, the two populations seem to overlap in both the tone and extent of yellow on the head.
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Caracas Bay Peninsula, Curaçao; September 29, 2018.) © Esther Faria
Otherwise mostly grass-green above and pale yellowish-green below, with a brownish or olive chest.
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Westpunt, Curaçao; February 22, 2020.) © Marcos Guirado
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Goto Meer, Bonaire; July 15, 2018.) © Eildert Beeftink
The flight feathers are extensively blue in varying shades, from aqua to royal blue.
Immatures are mostly green with a yellowish face, olive throat and chest, and often a distinct whitish eyering. As they mature, the head turns mostly yellow or orange.
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax, immature. (Willemstad, Curaçao; August 1, 2017.) © Anita de Moulin
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax, immature. (Jan Donker, Curaçao; August 28, 2020.) © Cisca Rusch
Notes
Polytypic form consisting of two recognized subspecies, pertinax and xanthogenia, which are collectively one of four (or so) potentially distinct forms of Brown-throated Parakeet (pertinax).
For a discussion of the taxonomy of the Brown-throated Parakeet complex, see Distinguishing Features: Has the Diversity of Brown-throated Parakeets Been Overlooked?
Additional Photos of “Yellow-headed Parakeet”
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Washington Slagbaai National Park, Bonaire; May 28, 2012.) © Chris Harrison
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Hato, Bonaire; October 3, 2018.) © Holly Kleindienst
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Hato, Bonaire; October 3, 2018.) © Holly Kleindienst
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia, with plumage stained for reasons unclear. (Bonaire; May 24, 2019.) © Sandy & Bob Sipe
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Bonaire; May 22, 2019.) © Sandy & Bob Sipe
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Shete Boka Park, Curaçao; November 9, 2019.) © Bernd Dietrich
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Harbour Village, Bonaire; February 14, 2010.) © Anya Auerbach
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Emmastad, Curaçao; February 13, 2021.) © Rob Kelder
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Salina Sint Michiel, Curaçao; May 26, 2018.) © Jorge Ellis
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Caracas Bay Peninsula, Curaçao; December 4, 2014.) Anonymous eBirder
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Shete Boka Park, Curaçao; December 8, 2014.) Anonymous eBirder
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Kaminda Lac, Bonaire; February 16, 2018.) © Sara Simma
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Mambo Beach, Curaçao; November 19, 2018.) © Lindy Fung
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Hato, Bonaire; December 22, 2019.) © Alyssa Jones
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Kralendijk Ponds, Bonaire; July 16, 2020.) © Susan Davis
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia. (Kralendijk, Bonaire; December 11, 2007.) © Robert A. Mustell
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. xanthogenia, eating a snorkel. (Kralendijk, Bonaire; December 11, 2007.) © Robert A. Mustell
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Emmastad, Curaçao; February 13, 2021.) © Rob Kelder
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Julianadorp, Curaçao; December 31, 2019.) © Robert Wellens
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Sint Jorisbaai, Curaçao; April 17, 2019.) © Javier A.V. Diaz
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax. (Bullenbaai, Curaçao; January 18, 2020.) © Cisca Rusch
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax, apparently an adult feeding an immature. (Jan Donker, Curaçao; August 28, 2020.) © Cisca Rusch
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax, either a pair or an immature and adult, at nest. (Emmastad, Curaçao; February 13, 2021.) © Rob Kelder
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax, immature. (Julianadorp, Curaçao; April 5, 2020.) © Robert Wellens
“Yellow-headed Parakeet”, E. p. pertinax, an apparent subadult, based on the presence of some residual olive feathers mixed in with the yellow in the face. (Alablancaweg, Curaçao; May 25, 2019.) © Esther Faria
References
BirdLife International. 2018. Eupsittula pertinax. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22685745A131917543. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22685745A131917543.en. (Accessed August 19, 2021.)
eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed August 19, 2021.)
Forshaw, J.M. 2010. Parrots of the World. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Juniper, T., and M. Parr. 1998. Parrots: A Guide to Parrots of the World. Yale University Press.
Kirwan, G.M., A. Levesque, M. Oberle, and C.J. Sharpe. 2019. Birds of the West Indies. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Raffaele, H. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton University Press.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press.
Wells, J.V., and A.C. Wells. 2017. Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. Cornell University Press.
Xeno-Canto. 2021. Brown-throated Parakeet – Eupsittula pertinax. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Eupsittula-pertinax. (Accessed August 19, 2021.)