Saturday 25 May Sun parakeet (Aratinga solstitialis) What’s the
World’s Favourite Species?Find out here. Sun parakeet fact file
- Find out more - Print factsheet Sun parakeet description
Despite having once been abundant, a history of unsustainable
trapping has made the strikingly plumaged sun parakeet one of
South America’s rarest parrots. Vibrantly coloured, the sun
parakeet is largely yellow, with contrasting patches of orange
around the head, belly, rump and lower back. The wings are green
and blue, with yellow tips, and the long, elaborate tail is
green and olive, with a yellow tinge. The sharply curved beak is
black, while the dark brown eye is surrounded by a bare white
eye ring. The sexes are very similar, but juveniles have a green
upper back, a reddish tinge on the lower back and rump, a green
throat and an orange breast (2). The sun parakeet has only
recently been described as a full species, as it was formerly
considered conspecific with the Jandaya parakeet (A. jandaya),
and the golden-capped par