Dusky-headed Parakeet (Aratinga weddellii)

The Dusky-headed Parakeet (Aratinga weddellii), also known as Weddell’s Conure or Dusky-headed Conure in aviculture, is a small green Neotropical parrot with dusty grey head found in wooded habitats in the western Amazon Basin of South America.

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They have quite a large range in in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. I saw these guys at the large parrot clay lick near Napo Wildlife Center.  Also try looking for them at clay licks near Tambopata & Manu in Peru.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT DUSKY-HEADED PARAKEETS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

Audubon

Neotropical Birds

VIDEOS

This hungry little guy is eating acai berries.

And here’s some clay lick action!

 

 

Large Parrot Clay Lick – Napo Wildlife Center

For the parrot lover, this is the biggest draw to the Ecuadorian Amazon.  Some people call it the big parrot clay lick, on eBird it’s called Parrot Lick #1.  It’s the larger one you see from the river while seated in a boat.  You do get pretty close but to land would be too close and scare the birds away.  This is a must for anyone staying at Napo Wildlife Center and will be a highlight of your trip!

This isn’t where you get huge life lists.  There are 5 parrot species that visit the clay lick here (though you may get flyovers of other species) – Dusky-billed Parakeet, Blue-headed Parrot, Yellow-crowned Parrot, Mealy Parrot & White-eyed Parakeet.  In the pictorial below, it should be pretty easy to pick them out so I am just going to post the photos in consecutive order to show the waves of parrots that flew in and out over around 40 minutes.  It was a great day as they would land, eat clay, fly off and then perch in trees waiting to come back.  Or the second waves could have been different birds.  Still it was awesome!

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