Appearance
The Golden-plumed parakeet is a large and long tailed montane parakeet that resides in the Andean cloud forests of Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. Adult golden-plumed parakeets are mostly bright green with orangish yellow lores and small golden yellow crests behind the eyes. Their bellies are a faded yellowish color with reddish orange feathers scattered about. Golden-plumed parakeets have yellowish flight feathers on their underside as well as strongly reddish color feathers on the underside of their tail. Juvenile golden-plumed parakeets strongly resemble the adults, but their bellies are a paler green, yellow, and orange color as well as having pale pink bills.Status
Habitat degradation and fragmentation are the two main threats causing a decline in the number of Golden-plumed Parakeets in Ecuador. There are only about 7,300-20,000 Golden-plumed parakeets mature adults left today as a result of fragmentation and habitat loss. There are conversation sites scattered throughout their region to aid their struggle.Behavior
Golden-plumed Parakeets usually abide in groups of 5-15 and can be seen in groups as large as 35-40 birds. The Golden–plumed parakeet likely has a nomadic movement pattern, leaving the nest when the chicks have fledged and returning next breeding season. Also, they are usually on exposed branches and outer crowns of Wax palms and are very active callers. Their call is a shrill sound that is present in flight and while they are perched, and it can be heard all year and more frequently during nesting areas during the breeding season. During copulation, the males and females share the same perch and gradually approach each other. The male slowly mounts the female and they both raise their long tails, rub together their cloacas, and shake their tails literally for 1-2 minutes.Food
They depend on Wax palms for shelter and are heavily dependent on Podocarpus cones for food. They spend a lot of their time foraging in the Podocarpus trees which are a conifer type tree with a more common name being the African fern tree.References:
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