The cobalt-rumped parrotlet or blue-winged parrotlet is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae.
Region
South America
Typical Environment
Occurs widely in eastern and central South America, including much of Brazil and adjacent Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. It favors forest edges, gallery forests, cerrado savannas, caatinga scrub, secondary growth, plantations, and urban green spaces. The species often keeps to open woodlands and avoids the darkest forest interior. Small flocks move locally in response to food availability, especially seed crops. It can be conspicuous around agricultural fields and city parks where grasses and fruiting trees are abundant.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 3/5
Also called the blue-winged parrotlet, it is a tiny South American parrot that often forms noisy flocks and adapts well to edges, secondary growth, and even city parks. Males show vivid cobalt-blue on the rump and wings, while females are mostly green, making the species sexually dimorphic. It is sometimes confused with the green-rumped parrotlet, but the stronger blue patches in males are a good field mark. Generally common and widespread across much of eastern and central South America.
A male cobalt-rumped parrotlet looking out from a nest in the Vale do Ribeira, Brazil
A female cobalt-rumped parrotlet in Goiás, Brazil
Pair of cobalt-rumped parrotlets kept as pets
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with swift, direct flights
Social Behavior
Usually seen in pairs or small, noisy flocks that may gather at feeding sites. Pairs are monogamous and nest in tree cavities, fence posts, or similar holes, sometimes reusing sites. They show strong pair bonds and often roost communally outside the breeding season.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A series of high, thin chips and twittering notes, often delivered in rapid sequences during flight. Contact calls are sharp and piercing, carrying well over open habitats.
