Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Mealy par­rots are found in Mex­ico and Cen­tral and South Amer­ica, oc­cu­py­ing a wide range from south­ern Mex­ico to north­ern Bo­livia and south­ern Brazil. They are most com­mon in Costa Rica and Panama, par­tic­u­larly on the Caribbean coast. (Ju­niper and Parr, 1998; Ridgely, 1976)

• Biogeographic Regions
• neotropical
  • native

Habi­tat

Mealy par­rots in­habit dense, humid low­land rain­forests near clear­ings but also pop­u­late wooded areas in sa­van­nas. (Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Habitat Regions
• tropical

• Terrestrial Biomes
• rainforest

• Other Habitat Features
• agricultural

• Range elevation

  290 to 1,200 m

  951.44 to ft

• Average elevation

  688 m

  2257.22 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

One of the largest of the Ama­zon par­rots, mealy par­rots mea­sure ap­prox­i­mately 38 to 40 cm in length and have an av­er­age weight of 540 to 700g. They are con­sid­er­ably less vi­brant than other closely re­lated par­rots. Mealy par­rots are mainly green with a crown of blue and vi­o­let feath­ers on the head, as well as a pow­dery ap­pear­ance given by the dull, bluish feath­ers on the head, neck, and shoul­ders. A few spots of red, yel­low, or blue can be seen on the feath­ers un­der­neath the wings, which are mainly dull green with lighter green tips. Around each eye is a white, feath­er­less ring. The iris is a red­dish-or­ange color. The beak is a gray, brown color. One way to dis­cern mealy par­rots from other Ama­zona species is the tail, which con­sists of two dis­tinct tones: green and yel­low­ish green. The feet are a gray­ish color. Males and fe­males are monomor­phic. A dis­tin­guish­ing fea­ture be­tween adults and ju­ve­niles is a brown iris in ju­ve­niles. ("Avian Web", 2004; Bates and Busen­bark, 1969; Ju­niper and Parr, 1998; Ridgely, 1976)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike

• Range mass

  540 to 700 g

  19.03 to 24.67 oz

• Range length

  38 to 40 cm

  14.96 to 15.75 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

Mat­ing oc­curs once a year and nor­mally be­gins in the spring. Once sex­u­ally ma­ture, mealy par­rots will choose one part­ner for life. (Brough, 2005; Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Mating System
• monogamous

Breed­ing nor­mally ranges from No­vem­ber to March. Nest­ing takes place in the tree-cav­ity. Fe­male par­rots usu­ally lay one clutch per year of three eggs. Eggs are in­cu­bated for about four weeks, after hatch­ing male par­rots as­sist fe­males in rais­ing the young by re­gur­gi­tat­ing food for the fe­male to eat. The off­spring are ready to leave the nest after a pe­riod of about eight weeks. (Brough, 2005; Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• oviparous

• Breeding interval

  Mealy parrots breed for a span of a few months once a year.

• Breeding season

  Breeding occurs from November to March.

• Average eggs per season

  3

• Average time to hatching

  4 weeks

• Average time to independence

  2 months

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  4 to 5 years

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  4 to 5 years

Dur­ing the in­cu­ba­tion pe­riod, the male par­rot will as­sist the fe­male by re­gur­gi­tat­ing food for the fe­male to eat. The fe­male will pro­tect and feed the hatched off­spring until they are ready to leave the nest. (Brough, 2005)

• Parental Investment
• altricial
• female parental care
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • male
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • protecting
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Mealy par­rots in cap­tiv­ity is typ­i­cally be­tween 50 and 100 years. In­for­ma­tion on lifes­pan of mealy par­rots in the wild is un­avail­able. ("Feath­ered Fam­ily Inc.", 2005)

• Typical lifespan
  Status: captivity

  50 to 100 years

Be­hav­ior

Mealy par­rots are so­cial an­i­mals, often seen fly­ing in pairs or small flocks of up to 20. They will also form larger groups of sev­eral hun­dred birds near the breed­ing sea­son. Mealy par­rots are very ac­tive and are often seen in­ter­act­ing with other species of par­rots, such as macaws (Ara). (Brough, 2005; Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal
• flies
• diurnal
• motile
• social

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Mealy par­rots can be very noisy, with a va­ri­ety of dif­fer­ent calls, in­clud­ing chat­ter­ing, squawk­ing, and whistling. The calls can be heard at a dis­tance, as their voice usu­ally has a deeper tone than that of other Ama­zona par­rots. (Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

Mealy par­rots feed mostly on plant parts, in­clud­ing seeds, fruits, nuts, blos­soms, and leaf buds. (Brough, 2005)

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • frugivore
  • granivore

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• fruit
• flowers

Pre­da­tion

Mealy par­rots are prey to var­i­ous preda­tors, such as hawks and mon­keys. Snakes may steal eggs or young off­spring. (Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Known Predators

  • hawks (Accipitridae)
  • monkeys (Cebidae)
  • snakes (Serpentes)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Al­though their im­por­tance to the en­vi­ron­ment has not been ex­ten­sively re­searched, mealy par­rots are spec­u­lated to play a role in seed dis­per­sal as well as act as a pol­li­na­tor of the flow­ers they feed on. (Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds
• pollinates

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Of spe­cial in­ter­est to the in­ter­na­tional live ex­otic bird trade, mealy par­rots are most com­monly taken into cap­tiv­ity and sold as pets. In some areas, they are also hunted for food, due to their rel­a­tively large size. (Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Positive Impacts
• pet trade
• food

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Mealy par­rots may eat crops oc­ca­sion­ally, in­clud­ing corn crops. (Brough, 2005; Ju­niper and Parr, 1998)

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Mealy par­rots are not cur­rently iden­ti­fied as a species in cri­sis. They do not meet the cri­te­ria for a pop­u­la­tion de­cline, mean­ing a thirty per­cent loss of the pop­u­la­tion in ten years or three gen­er­a­tions, as de­fined by the IUCN Red List. They are con­sid­ered a species of least con­cern. This, how­ever, does not sug­gest that the species is com­pletely free from dan­ger. Both the large amount of trad­ing and the loss of habi­tat from de­for­esta­tion have a sig­nif­i­cant im­pact on pop­u­la­tion de­clines of mealy par­rots in cer­tain areas. ("BirdLife In­ter­na­tional", 2005)

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• US Migratory Bird Act

  No special status

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  Appendix II

Con­trib­u­tors

Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Kath­leen Sholty (au­thor), Kala­ma­zoo Col­lege, Ann Fraser (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), Kala­ma­zoo Col­lege.

Ref­er­ences

2004. "Avian Web" (On-line). Ama­zon Par­rots. Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 19, 2005 at http://​www.​avianweb.​com/​amazons.​htm.

2005. "BirdLife In­ter­na­tional" (On-line). Species fact­sheet: Ama­zona fari­nosa. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 15, 2005 at http://​www.​birdlife.​org.

2005. "Feath­ered Fam­ily Inc." (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 19, 2005 at http://​www.​featheredfamily.​com/​mealyamazon.​htm.

Bates, H., R. Busen­bark. 1969. Par­rots and Re­lated Birds. United States: T.F.H. Pub­li­ca­tions.

Brough, C. 2005. "An­i­mal-World" (On-line). “Mealy Ama­zon”. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 15, 2005 at http://​www.​exotictropicals.​com/​encyclo/​birds/​amazons/​mealyamazon.​php.​.

Ju­niper, T., M. Parr. 1998. Par­rots: A Guide to Par­rots of the World. New Haven and Lon­don: Yale Uni­ver­sity Press.

Ridgely, R. 1976. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. New Jer­sey: Prince­ton Uni­ver­sity Press.