Nanday Conure

The Nanday Conure, also called the Black-hooded Parakeet, is a medium-sized, mostly green parakeet with a bold, glossy black hood covering the entire head and throat, sharply set off against the green body. Blue tinges the flight feathers and lower breast, and the thighs show a small patch of red.

Appearance

• Solid black feathering covering the head, forehead, and throat, forming a distinct hood
• Bright green body, back, and wings
• Blue-tinged primaries and a blue wash across the breast
• Small red patch on the thighs, often the last field mark noticed
• Long, tapered green tail

Key field marks

• Complete black hood covering the whole head, unlike any partial crown patch
• Green body with a blue-washed breast and blue flight feathers
• Small but diagnostic red thigh patch

Similar species

The Blue-crowned Conure shows blue restricted to the forehead/crown rather than a full black hood. Mitred and other Aratinga parakeets with head color typically show red, not black. No other common conure combines an all-black head with a green body and red thighs, making the Nanday Conure distinctive.

Range

Native to south-central South America, including Bolivia, Paraguay, western Brazil, northern Argentina, and Uruguay; feral populations have also established in parts of Florida and California in the United States.

Habitat

Inhabits open palm savanna, marsh edges, gallery woodland, and agricultural land, favoring open country over dense forest; generally non-migratory within its native range.

Behavior

Highly gregarious, typically found in noisy flocks that forage and roost communally, sometimes gathering in the hundreds at favored roost sites.

Voice

Gives loud, harsh, repeated screeching and chattering calls, among the more vocal of the conure group.

Feeding

Forages on the ground and in trees for seeds, fruit, berries, and blossoms, and readily exploits cultivated grain fields.

Nesting and breeding

Nests in tree cavities and palm hollows, and in some areas has been observed nesting in earthen banks; lays a clutch of several white eggs incubated mainly by the female.