SPECIES PROFILE

The adorable parrotlet:
tiny parrot, big personality

I WILL NEVER forget the first time I saw a parrotlet. My husband and I were strolling the aisles of a bird show in Sacramento, California, when I spied two tiny green birds in a show cage. I didn’t know what they were, but I was determined to have a pair.

Asking around, I learned that these diminutive parrots were called parrotlets, which means “small parrot,” appropriately enough.

Well-fed parrotlets won't harm their babies, like this days-old yellow-face.

I was considered crazy to even consider raising them. But my mind was made up. After further research, I found a breeder and I went to his home to see his Pacific parrotlets.

The meeting was perfunctory. The man took one small bird out of the cage, extended its wings to show me the beautiful cobalt-blue markings, and said, “Here’s the male".

He returned that bird and brought out another, extended its wings to show lack of blue, and said, "Here’s the female".

I paid him $175 for the pair, he stuffed them into a paper bag, and I left. I had no idea how to cage my parrotlets, feed them or breed them.

I vowed that if I ever figured out how to care for these unique little parrots, I would do everything I could to help educate other people. After years of trial and error, here’s what I know.

Tiny gems
Though a close relative of the Amazon parrot, parrotlets are among the smallest parrots in the world. Some measure less than five inches long and weigh less than an ounce. They have streamlined, wedge-shaped tails, but large beaks for their size.

What they lack in size, parrotlets make up for in personality. Much like Amazons, parrotlets are extremely intelligent, acrobatic and personable--but they can also be moody and temperamental.

All parrotlets originate in Central America, South America or Mexico and are primarily green, with patches of yellow, gray and blue to differentiate the seven subspecies.

Parrotlets are dimorphic, meaning the males and females look different. Usually, only the males possess the striking blue feathers. That makes it easy to tell the sexes in a species apart.

However, one has to rely on size and other coloring to tell which species a female bird might be, since her markings are less dramatic.

Parrotlets vary widely in price, with color mutations of the Pacific parrotlet among the most expensive, ranging from $400 to a breathtaking $1000 apiece.

Ordinary Pacific parrotlets cost from $200 to $300, green-rumps go for $250 to $300 and spectacles are usually priced between $200 and $350 if you purchase from a pet store. Buying from a breeder can save about $100.

I don’t recommend keeping more than one pet parrotlet. A single pet that is a member of the family seems the happiest.

With multiple birds, one usually becomes dominant and can become jealous of or even aggressive toward the others. "Share" is not a word in the parrotlet vocabulary.

Nobody really knows how long parrotlets live. I have some of the oldest birds in the country, which were imported in the early 1980s as adults. You can probably expect to enjoy your parrotlet for up to 30 years with proper care.

The popular Pacific
The most widely kept species of parrotlet is the Pacific, or celestial (Forpus coelestis). Pacifics boast bright olive-green feathers and pink beaks and legs. As the name suggests, they originate from the Pacific Ocean side of the Andes, Western Ecuador and northwestern Peru.

Pacifics possess the feistiest, most outgoing personalities of any parrotlet. They can be very stubborn and strong-willed, quickly learning how to get the upper hand. However, with training they can be very affectionate and strongly bonded with their owners.

The male Pacific parrotlet, in foreground, sports blue wings, back and rump.

Pacifics are a medium-size parrotlet, measuring about 5 ½ inches and tipping the gram scale at about 28. Males have deep cobalt wings, backs, rumps and streaks behind each eye. Females are various shades of olive and green, with an emerald green eye streak.

Females in the Forpus coelestis lucida subspecies of Pacific parrotlet, found in Colombia, are unusual in the parrotlet world: they have blue rumps and eye streaks and, sometimes, light-blue wings.

Males of this subspecies have silver gray backs and wings as well an eye streak that completely encircles the back of the head.

Every color of the rainbow
Pacific parrotlets have been bred into many beautiful color mutations. Following is a quick summary of what’s available:

• Albino. Pure white with red eyes. Males and females look identical.
• White. Whitish blue with dark eyes. Males keep dark-blue markings, referred to as cobalt, or violet.
• Blue. Light sky blue with dark eyes. Males keep cobalt markings.
• Fallow. Light yellow with green and beige and red eyes. Males retain powder-blue markings.
• Blue-fallow. Light blue with red eyes. Males keep powder-blue markings.
• Cinnamon. Light yellow with beige and ruby-red eyes. Males retain cobalt markings. Also known as "Isabelle" in Europe.
• Gray-green. Deep olive green. Males' markings are blue-black.
• Lutino. Bright yellow bird with red eyes. Males' powder-blue markings replaced with white.
• Yellow (American). Canary yellow with dark eyes. Males retain powder-blue markings.
• Yellow (European). Light yellow and green with dark eyes. Males retain powder-blue markings. Also called "pastel".

Blue mutations tend to have mellower personalities than their green counterparts. However, keep in mind that mutated parrotlets, especially lutino and fallow, may not be as healthy as the normal green parrotlet.

For instance, many veterinarians do not advise feeding mutated parrotlets a pelleted diet because it can cause kidney damage. There have been reports of blindness in fallows, albinos and lutinos and unexplained instances of babies who failed to thrive.

We’ve still discovering problems with mutated parrotlets, which have been around for only about five years.

Green-rumps: Great for kids
Green-rump (Forpus passerinus) parrotlets, the only species in which males have green rumps instead of blue, are a smaller, slightly more timid bird than the Pacific parrotlet.

This native of Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana and the Caribbean islands weighs from 18 to 28 grams and measures from 3 ½ to 4 ½ inches, depending on the subspecies.

Green-rumps can be frightened by new things and may take a few days to settle into their new surroundings and begin eating a wide variety of foods.

Male green-rumps have bright turqoise on the wings.

But once acclimated, they possess just as much personality as the more boisterous Pacific parrotlet and are less insistent on getting their own way. Their sweet, gentle personalities make them good birds for children.

Green-rumps have pink feet and beaks, just like the Pacific parrotlet, and males have dark cobalt blue and bright turquoise wings-but, with the exception of one subspecies, no blue on the back or rump. Females have bright yellow between their eyes.

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