Parrots in the Wild
Rufous-fronted Parakeet Bolborhynchus ferrugineifrons
by OTTO PFISTER, Bogota During our past visit into ‘Los Nevados’ Nationalpark, located between obser ving the surr ounding would utter a twittering call when 3,200 and 5,300m altitude in the Colombian Central Andes r egion, suspicious, the remaining members rejoining as a chorus, before the minimum four small flocks of the rare and endemic Rufous-fr onted entire group would take wing at once. Before dusk a flock was watched Parakeet Bolborhynchus fer rugineifrons were discovered. No pr evious flying into the clif fs of a nearby rock-face not to appear again - the record of this endanger ed species originated from the place of our exact location of the roost could not be discovered due to a fog-cloud encounter: the known areas of the species restricted distribution covering the section. include the Nevado El Ruiz-Nevado del Tolima - near Laguna Otun -, Since rar e and endemic, the Rufous-fronted Parakeet is extr emely plus Volcan Purace. Our obser vation took place west / south-west of El vulnerable to any changes in its confined distribution range. Ruiz, near the area called ‘Casa el Cisne’, and therefore would enlarge For tunately this expanse lays almost entirely in the National Park, the originally known species’ occurrence more towards the north / therefore no immediate threat to the species is observed. However, north-west. The park authority infor med was not aware of the existence increased potato growing activities resulting in clearing of shrubof this little known parakeet in the described location. vegetation in the temperate zones destroy the species habitat especially The parakeets were observed at 3,950m in bush covered, dry slopes. in the lower sections of its distribution limits. Appr opriate research Usually a flock, consisting of 9-14 individuals, stayed closely together would cer tainly offer proposals for conservation and encourage better while feeding on seeds in the crowns of shrubby trees. A single bir d understanding of these attractive bir ds listed under CITES Appendix II. Printed by Brewers of Helston Ltd. Tel: 01326 558000