The Red-faced Parrot is a colorful conglomeration of colors, mainly green with red touches on its face, crown, and wings, yellow ear coverts, and dark blue wing and tail feathers. Some individuals have a few red markings on the belly. The red shoulder is especially visible in flight, as are the dark blue wing and tail feathers.

The Red-faced Parrot may actually be part of a single species that includes other parrots found along the eastern Andean mountain range: the Indigo-winged (Fuertes's) Parrot of Colombia and the Rusty-faced Parrot, found further north in Colombia and into Venezuela.

This species utters a variety of loud, screechy, two-syllable calls while perched or feeding. Its flight calls include a more mellow-sounding “currrt”.

Song:

Flight Calls:

This parrot is usually seen in pairs or small flocks in flight over the forest. It can be very difficult to detect when foraging within the tree canopy, as its mostly green plumage serves as superb camouflage. 

Like other parrots, the Red-faced Parrot is a secondary cavity nester, making its home in a naturally occurring tree cavity or one excavated by another species, such as a woodpecker.

The female Red-faced Parrot lays a clutch of two to three eggs, which she broods herself. Her mate pitches in to help feed and care for the chicks once they hatch.

Red-faced Parrots forage in the forest canopy or lower down in small fruiting trees or even shrubs, combing the branches for fruit, blossoms, and seeds.

The Red-faced Parrot can be found on the eastern slope of the Andean mountains and in southern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. It lives in cool, high-humidity montane cloud forests, and forest patches and shrubby areas adjacent to páramo grasslands.

Cloud forests are threatened by logging and clearing for agriculture, infrastructure development, and mining.

Together with partners and local communities, ABC has helped to protect over 1.1 million acres of land in more than 100 reserves spread across 15 countries, benefiting 3,000 bird species to date.

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In 2007, ABC helped to establish the Indigo-winged (Fuertes's) Parrot Reserve, which protects key nesting areas in Colombia for that species. ABC was also instrumental in the formation of the Threatened Parrot Corridor in 2009. This series of reserves covers roughly 19,000 acres of key Colombian habitat and protects approximately 70 percent of the Indigo-winged Parrot's population, plus four other species of endangered parrots: the Yellow-eared Parrot, Rusty-faced Parrot, Golden-plumed Parakeet, and Rufous-fronted Parakeet.

ABC recently helped to establish the Ridgely Reserve in southern Ecuador to protect the Red-faced Parrot and its habitat.

Many of the rarest bird species in the Western Hemisphere remain relatively unknown. You can learn more about these birds and the threats they face by signing up for ABC's Bird of the Week email series, which frequently highlights these fascinating birds.

American Bird Conservancy and our partners throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have created and expanded more than 100 bird reserves, which protect upward of 1.1 million acres of vital habitat. Together, we've planted more than 6.8 million trees, helping to restore degraded and damaged habitat. You can help us continue to protect endangered birds by making a gift today.