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Posted by David Simpson on 21:00:42 03/25/08
Hi All,
Being from the cold north of central Florida, I don't get much chance to look at parakeets in numbers. When I have been to sunny south Florida, I have seen Mitred and Red-masked parakeets on many occasions. I have not to my knoweledge seen Green, White-eyed, Crimson-fronted, or Scarlet-fronted parakeets. I have seen several reports of these species in recent posts. I have Susan Epps' recent printing of her parrot ID book. Identification of these species of parakeets seems to concentrate on distribution of red on and around the head and the presence or lack of red and yellow at the bend of the wing. That works well for adult plumaged birds, but what do you do with juvenile birds? Adult plumage may take several years to be acquired and most juveniles have less red on the head and wings. This makes it more difficult to ID species that are seperated by less red on the head or wings. Is it Green Parakeet or a juvenile Red-masked? I can see from the species descriptions that there are considerable size differences (both length and wieght) between some species. I have noticed that size is helpful in sepearating Mitred and Red-masked in mixed flocks. I suspect this works for others onced you have seen them a few times. I am sure that some of you out there have picked up on some ID points for these species. I would appreciate some education on just how to pick out these less common species.
Thanks
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