First documented record of Andean Parakeet Bolborhynchus orbygnesius in Argentina, roosting communally in a stick nest

Abstract

A group of several Andean Parakeet (Bolborhynchus orbygnesius) individuals was observed, photographed and tape-recorded at Finca El Candado, near Los Cardones National Park, Salta Province, northwestern Argentina. There is no previously published record of Andean Parakeet from south of Cochabamba, Bolivia, although there is a tape-recording from Tarija, Bolivia, which is about 350 km north-northwest of Finca El Candado. Additionally, there is an undocumented record of a group of birds 218 km north-northwest of Finca El Candado, between Valle Colorado and Santa Ana, in Jujuy Province, Argentina. Birds were coming to roost in a large stick nest that did not look like any described nest. We do not know if the parrots had constructed this nest entirely or partly, or if it had been made by other bird species. Future research will clarify if Andean Parakeet commonly uses stick nests for roosting, if it breeds in them, and if it is responsible for or contributes to their construction.