Fun Green-rumped Parrotlet Facts For Kids

Are you fascinated by parrots, like the kea parrots? Then here we have all the information about the green-rumped parrotlet.

Green-rumped parrotlet (Forpus passerinus) is a species of parrot that belongs to the genus Forpus and the family Psittacidae. It has four subspecies, Schlegel's parrotlet, (Forpus passerinus cyanochlorus), Venezuelan parrotlet (Forpus passerinus viridissimus), Santarem passerine parrotlet (Forpus passerinus deliciosus), and Rio Hacha parrotlet (Forpus passerinus cyanophanes).

These parrots can be found in parts of northern South America. These wild birds are a favorite choice as pets for many people around the world. This may be due to their affectionate nature and beautiful-colored feathers.

This bird relies on a plant-based diet that consists of seeds, vegetables, stems, leave buds, fruits, and more. If you want to keep one of these parrots as a pet, then go to a good green-rumped parrotlet breeder.

Read on to know more about the diet, breeding habits, and behavior of the green-rumped parrotlet, and if you like this article, then also check out these gold-capped conure facts and golden-crowned warbler facts.

Green-Rumped Parrotlet Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a green-rumped parrotlet?

Green-rumped parrotlet (Forpus passerinus) is a species of parrot.

What class of animal does a green-rumped parrotlet belong to?

The green-rumped parrotlet belongs to the genus Forpus, family Psittacidae and class Aves of animals.

How many green-rumped parrotlets are there in the world?

This species of parrot has four subspecies under it. They have different geographical ranges around the world, and keeping track of all their populations has not been done. Hence, the exact population of the green-rumped parrotlet is not known. However, they are known to be common in their habitat range.

Where does a green-rumped parrotlet live?

The green-rumped parrotlet can be seen in the northern parts of South America. They are known to live from Brazil and the Guianas to Trinidad, Venezuela, and Columbia. They were later introduced in the Caribbean islands.

What is a green-rumped parrotlet's habitat?

The primary habitat of these parrots is semi-open low altitude lands. They can be found living in secondary forests, cactus, and thorny scrubs, gallery and deciduous forest edges, and mangroves. They are also seen in savannah, open grasslands, like agricultural fields, ranch lands, but they frequent these places less. They can also be seen around city parks at times.

Who do green-rumped parrotlets live with?

This species of parrot is known to live in colonies. Flocks of hundreds of these birds can be seen many times in flight. They make pairs, and the pairs are known to live together with others of their species in colonies.

How long does a green-rumped parrotlet live?

The lifespan of a green-rumped parrotlet bird is known to be about 12 years on average. Some parrotlets can even live up to 30 years at times if you properly take care of them.

How do they reproduce?

The breeding season of these birds varies according to their geographical range around the world. This breeding season occurs around May-November except for July and September in Columbia, February, June, August, and November in Surinam, February-August in Trinidad, and April-August in Venezuela.

Except for a very few, most of these birds are known to be monogamous. Not much is known about the courtship behavior of these parrots. After mating, the female lays about 2-11 eggs.

The incubation period lasts for about 14 days. The eggs are mainly incubated by the female, not the male. The male helps in feeding the female during this time.

After the eggs hatch, in the wild, the chicks stay dependent on the parents for the next four to five weeks. In captivity, the chicks are seen to be independent right after birth.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of the species of green-rumped parrotlet according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List is listed as Least Concern. The population trend shows a decreasing number in the population of parrots. It might be due to trapping and hunting of the parrots for the purpose of the pet trade, and habitat loss.

Green-Rumped Parrotlet Fun Facts

What do green-rumped parrotlets look like?

Green-rumped parrotlet (Forpus passerinus) is a medium-sized parrot species. They have overall bright green-colored feathers.

The ventral side of the birds along with cheeks and forehead have a little lighter shade, while the rump can be brightest, or at times washed blue color can be seen. A light gray tint can be seen on the nape of the bird. The underwings and primary coverts are dark blue-colored.

This shade of blue lightens in the secondary coverts, and lightens further, and turns pale in greater coverts. In females, their forehead can seem to have more hue of yellow and the blue markings can seem to be green.

How cute are they?

Species of these birds can seem extremely cute to many people due to their chubby rounded bodies and vibrant colors. They are also the least aggressive among all parrotlets. Hence, they are easily the first choice as pets for many people.

How do they communicate?

These birds primarily communicate vocally. They call for a long time when they are in flight in flocks. Otherwise, these birds are generally not noisy in nature.

Usually, the call during flight and when perched is the same. It sounds a lot like 'chidit' or 'chidididit'. Parrotlets are smart birds, so they can mimic words and different sounds, like alarms or beeps, when they are kept in captivity.

How big is a green-rumped parrotlet?

Green-rumped parrotlet is about 4.7-5.1 in (12-13 cm) in length. These parrotlets are two to four times smaller than amazon parrots and kea parrots, who grow up to be about 10-20 in (25-50 cm) in length.

How fast can a green-rumped parrotlet fly?

The exact speed at which the green-rumped parrotlet can fly is not known. However, parrotlets, in general, can fly at a whopping speed of 50 mph (64.4 kph) and more.

How much does a green-rumped parrotlet weigh?

These are medium-sized birds. An adult green-rumped parrotlet weighs about 0.7-1 oz (20-28 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

Males of the species are known as cocks and females of the species are known as hens.

What would you call a baby green-rumped parrotlet?

A baby green-rumped parrotlet is known as a chick, nestling, or hatchling.

What do they eat?

These birds are herbivorous in nature. The diet consists of fruits, grass, blossoms, seeds of flowers and fruits, vegetables, stems, leaf buds, and berries.

Are they dangerous?

Green-rumped parrotlets are not dangerous in nature. Parrotlets, in general, are aggressive, but green-rumped parrotlet is the least aggressive among them.

Would they make a good pet?

Parrotlets can make excellent pets, like Meyer's parrot or many other parrot species. Especially the personality of the green-rumped parrotlets is the friendliest amongst all parrotlets and can be an extremely good choice for beginners. They are one of the top choices for people who like to keep parrotlet as a pet.

Did you know...

The appearance of these birds slightly differs among the four subspecies. In Schlegel's parrotlet, (Forpus passerinus cyanochlorus), females are a bit more yellow in color.

In the Venezuelan parrotlet (Forpus passerinus viridissimus), overall, males and females both have a darker shade of green. In Santarem passerine parrotlet (Forpus passerinus deliciosus), the rump is pale blue-colored, the secondary coverts are darker blue-colored, and the yellow tint on the forehead of females is darker as well.

In the Rio Hacha parrotlet (Forpus passerinus cyanophanes), the difference can be seen in the wing. The closed wing has more blue shade in this subspecies.

Caring for green-rumped parrotlets

This species of parrotlets are pretty low maintenance. Parrotlets might seem to have a big personality, but the green-rumped parrotlets can be pretty friendly and affectionate.

Not all parrotlets like to be held, but handling them increases their social skills. They are not noisy, and a medium-sized cage will be good enough for them. Be a little careful if you leave them out of the cage in your home, as they like to bite things.

How smart are green-rumped parrotlets?

Green-rumped parrotlets are quite smart. They can live in the wild, as well as to adapt to the domestic environment pretty easily. If you teach them tricks, you will see that they learn pretty quickly. They can also mimic sounds and words they will hear around the house.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Florida grasshopper sparrow facts and green-headed tanager facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Green-rumped parrotlet coloring pages.