because of its stance and weight. All are dimorphic The Forpus voice is more and all but two sp. are dimorphic finch-like thanparrot. They can yell but also. The henForpus parrotlet will have Forpus I have only known them to do so when green under wings and usually a green being handled. They have a tendency to rump. The hen yellow face has the wing • be flighty whenfirst acquiredbutwill, if feathers "tinged" with blue and a given time, settle into quiet cage . lighter blue rump than the male. Also anClerS As pet birds the youngsters will tame some of the Pacific hens will have a down and learn to talk. The limitation rump as dark as the males but the under­ of speech I don't believe has been dis­ wing will be green. The Touits are not Q) ::0 o covered because most of us enjoy the as general as each individual species has z natural twittering so much. Most of the its own markings. The two species eeu o talking parrotlets I know ofjust learned which are not dimorphic are the T. >, .0 on their own. batavica - seven-colored parrotlet, o (5 .£ Most common of the Forpus ­ and the T. melononata - brown CL lets seems to be the F. coelestis, Pacific backed parrotlet. or celestial. This is about 4-1/2 Anyone who is interested in parrot­ inches inlength, it is grey-green incolor lets or in joining Forpus Fanciers can with a bright green face. The rump and contact me, Carol Noble, Secretary ­ wings are marked with ultramarine Forpus Fanciers, P.O. Box 872, blue. The next most common seems to Alleghany, CA 95910.• be the F. passerinus, green rump. This bird is running a very close second to the Coelestis. It again is very small, 4 - 4-1/2 inches, and bright green all over. As the name implies, it has a green Turquoise rumpedparrotlet rump and blue markings on the wings. The next is the F. cyanopyguis, Mex­ ican or turquoise rump. This seems to be the parrotlet which was the most This service is to match unmated by Carol Noble common thirty years ago andI believe it birds, to bring joy to forlorn single Alleghany, California is still the most common in California. birds and their discouraged owners, This bird is larger than the other two and to broaden the gene pool in needy Forpus Fanciers is a club for people mentioned at about 5 - 5-1/2 inches. It is species. interested inparrotlets. Most ofthe cur­ a light green with turquoise blue rump To list a bird give as much of the rent members have or are interested in and wing markings. The next to be following as you can: English name or Forpus parrotlet but we are also open found is F. xanthopteryguis, blue wing names by which it is known, Latin to people interested in Touit sp., Nan­ - a lot ofbirds are labeledas blue wings name and sex; your name, address and nopsittaca sp., and owners and lover but, in fact, are turquoise rumps or phone number; one dollar for up to ofany small parrot. The reason for such Pacifics. Even green rumps are four birds. a broad base i that there are several sometimes sold as this bird. The blue To answer a listing send a separate small which are erroneously wing is a small bird about the same size letter for each bird sought (each one called parrotlets. The e include the as the greenrump, 4 -4-1/2 inches. They goes to a different source), including' Brotogeris sp., Bolbahynchus sp. and I are bright green with blue rump and your name, address and phone have even been told to include conures wing markings. The most well known number; enclose a dollar for each bird in this parrotlet list. seems to be the F. xanthops, yellow sought (to cover mailing your The definition for a parrotlet is a face. This bird was only recently response). small square tailed parrot. All parrotlets brought into captivity and is the bird Address all communications to Ms. come from the Americas (, Cen­ most people ask about. It is large for a Cathy Grosse, 3120 Epworth Avenue, tral, and ). They are all parrotlet at 6 inches, about the size of a Cincinnati, Ohio 45211. Do not write small birds. The largest is about the peach-face . It is grey-green, to the Watchbird! length ofa budgie, tip to tail, but it has a more grey than green, and has a very WANTED: short tail and is considerably heavier. yellow face (hence the name) and dark Female scarlet macaw, Ara macao The smallest i about four inches - if blue-violet markings on the wings and Female grey-cheeked parakeet, you took that same budgie and cut off rump. The other twoForpus parrotlets, Brotogerispyrrhopterus his tail at the base the budgie would be F. conspicillatus (spectacal) and F. Male Timneh grey parrot, Psittacus the same length but considerably sclateri(Sclater's) are not currentlykept erithacus timneh heavier than the parrotlet. The largest is in captivity. The Sclater's is a junglebird Male great-billed parrot, Tanygnathus in the Touit sp., being 17 cm. or about 7 and is said to be darker than the other megalorhynchosmegalorhynchos inches. The smallest is the Forpus types and the spectacal is a small grey­ Male severe macaw, Arasevera passerinus (green rump parrotlet) at 12 green bird with a green cast to the face. Male caninde macaw, Aracanindae cm. or about 4-1/2 inches, this bird Both have blue markings on the rump also known as blue-throated macaw, looks much smaller than 4 inches and wing. Araglacogularis •

4 October/ ovember 1985