ADVENTURES WITH FRED

Each month we've been highlighting one of Fred's amazing bird photographs. Click lower right for more information.

Bird in Brief

The Sulphur-Winged Parakeet (Pyrrhura hoffmanni)

• Also known as Hoffman’s conure or the sulfur-winged parakeet

• Endemic to the highlands of southern Costa Rica and western Panama, preferring a habitat of mountain forests and open woodland up to 3,000 meters but sometimes descending to 1,300 meters in the wet season

• Medium-sized parrots, mainly green, orange-scaled on the head and chest, with a red nape spot and dull red tail

• Recognized in flight by the extensive yellow on the inner wing

• Feed in flocks of 5-15 birds at treetop level, taking various seeds and fruits including figs

• In breeding seasons, hens lay on average three white eggs in an unlined nest cavity 8-20 meters high in a tree — possibly an old woodpecker hole or a broken stub

• Both male and female incubate the eggs for about 23 days

Source: Beauty of Birds

This guy is an uncommon bird and is found at about 8,000 feet elevation. It was photographed in December 2022 in the mountains south of Cartago, Costa Rica.