Pionus Parrot

About Pionus Parrots:

Becoming interested in the Pionus parrot is a choice you will never regret. They are gentle, quiet, and of very even disposition. Unlike numerous species of the Amazon, they do not love you today and bite you tomorrow. Pionus are personable, curious, and quite intelligent. They make wonderful pets, especially in apartments or other situations where noise can be a problem. They respond readily to voice commands as they become mature birds, if one has properly handled their upbringing. Like most birds, in a captive atmosphere, they have a tendency to become more attached to one person but still tolerate others with gentleness.

These medium-sized parrots with short squarish tails are basically subdued shades of pastel colors consisting of the greens, blues, charcoal, white, gray, red, violet, but not in the garish tones found in the various Amazons. The color combinations of the eight species making up the genus Pionus make them some of the most beautiful of the New World parrots. The one feature common to all species is the red undertail covert feathers surrounding the vent area.

Pionus parrots are native to Central and South America, although each of the eight species has its own habitat. They can be found from tropical coastal forests to subtropical forests at high altitudes. The Plum-crowned

, the White-headed, and the Bronze-winged Pionus are classed as high-altitude birds, although the latter has been known to frequent mid-elevation and coastal forests also.

The most frequently available birds are the Blue-headed (P. menstruus), the White-capped (P. senilis) and the Maximilian (P. maximiliani) Pionus, which range across Central America, to the Amazon River basin, and in the case of the Maxilimian, into Argentina.

The last two species are the Dusky Pionus (P. fuscus), whose habitat is Guyana and Surinam, and the Sordid Parrot (P. sordidus), generally found on the mountain ranges of western South America.