The Story
These two Brown-throated Parakeets fed on a cactus with red fruit in Taganga, near Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia, at about 65 meters. The Brown-throated Parakeet (Eupsittula pertinax) eats seeds, fruits, nuts, flowers and leaves. It lives in Costa Rica, Panama, northern South America and on Caribbean islands off the coast. In Colombia it reaches 2,600 meters, though elsewhere it stays mostly below 1,200. Flocks call in flight, and when a feeding flock answers, the others may join it. A study in Venezuela found that up to 70 percent of its food there came from human-planted sources. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed them with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/250 sec, f/6.7, ISO 3200, +0.5 EV. Taganga and Santa Marta, both founded in 1525, are two of the oldest remaining colonial settlements in Colombia.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Brown-throated Parakeet (Eupsittula pertinax) belongs to the family Psittacidae (New World and African Parrots) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
