Nanday Parakeet

Nanday Parakeet
In Strasbourg, Parc de l'Orangerie
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Psittacidae
Subfamily:	Psittacinae
Tribe:	Arini
Genus:	Nandayus Bonaparte, 1854
Species:	N. nenday
Binomial name
Nandayus nenday (Vieillot, 1823)

The Nanday Parakeet (Nandayus nenday) is also known as the Black-hooded Parakeet or Nanday Conure. The bird is native to South America from southeast Bolivia to southwest Brazil, central Paraguay and northern Argentina, from the region known as the pantanal. Caged birds have been released in some areas and the birds have established self sustaining populations in the Los Angeles, California, and several areas of Florida (including St. Petersburg, Broward County, and Miami-Dade County).

A prehistoric relative, Nandayus vorohuensis, was described from Late Pliocene fossils found in Argentina.

Description

The Nanday Parakeet is 32–37 cm in length, and is mostly green in color. Its most distinguishing characteristic, for which it is named, is its black facial mask and beak. It also shows black trailing flight feathers on its wings and has a long tail edged at the end in blue. The upper chest is bluish-green and the lower chest is a paler green. Feathers covering the thighs are red.

Behaviour

Food and feeding

The bird feeds on seeds, fruit, palm nuts, berries, flowers and buds. Feral birds will also come to bird feeders. Wild birds primarily use scrub forest and forest clearings around settlements. It frequents open savannah, pastures and stockyards in South America where it is considered a pest in some areas.

Breeding

Nanday Parakeets usually find holes in trees to nest in. It lays 3-4 eggs. After raising its young, all birds will form rather large communal roosts until the next breeding season.

Aviculture

Upper body

Pet on a cage

Feral parrots in Sarasota County, Florida, USA

In captivity they make wonderful pets if cared for and socialized properly. They all have distinct personalities and appreciate toys. They require a cage or enclosure that is a minimum of 24x24x30 inches as they are inclined to climb, flap their wings and have long tail feathers. They also like to be outside of their cage at least six hours a day. While they will accept most parrot seed mixes, seed-only diets are nutritionally inadequate, reduce their lifespan considerably and may cause them to become underweight. Pellet-based diets with fruits and vegetables offered daily are much preferable. These birds are extremely intelligent and skilled escape artists. Some of them will talk, others will not, depending on their personality. They are noted for having a very loud call and are not suited for apartments.

Fearing the birds may escape and become feral agricultural pests, the state of Tennessee, USA bans the keeping of Nanday Parakeets as well as Monk Parakeets.

References

• BirdLife International (2009). Nandayus nenday. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 February 2010. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• "National Geographic" Field Guide to the Birds of North America ISBN 0-7922-6877-6
• Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol 4, Josep del Hoyo editor, ISBN 84-87334-22-9
• "National Audubon Society" The Sibley Guide to Birds, by David Allen Sibley, ISBN 0-679-45122-6

External links

• Nanday Conure
• Nanday Conure