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by LoraKim Joyner and Gail Koelln

Bird with a Badge


Photo credit: Mike's Birds

LoraKim is now in Guyana through the end of November. While she is gone, we will be focusing on her thoughts (and mine) on why parrots are so much more than beautiful (even as we admire their physical beauty!).

The seventh bird on LoraKim Joyner’s list of the most beautiful parrots is the yellow-chevroned parakeet (its scientific name is Brotogeris chiriri). Wondering what a “chevron” is, I looked it up and one of the definitions is “a badge consisting of stripes meeting at an angle, worn on the sleeve by noncommissioned officers, police officers, etc., as an indication of rank, service, or the like.” (The other definition is “an ornament in this form, as on a molding.”) Looking at these lovely little birds, I can see how they got their name.

Here are LoraKim’s thoughts about the yellow-chevroned parakeet, “Often when we are out doing parrot surveys in various countries some member of the Brotogeris genera fly by, so high, erratically, and fast. You can’t really see much of them. Their flamboyant calls and flight patterns, though, tell you who they are. Sometimes they deem to come down to earth closer to us, hold still, and then if you are lucky, the beautiful yellow-chevroned parakeet offers up a glimpse of the yellow on their wings. When they do this, it’s like you feel chosen and as special as they are. I had one of these in my home in my younger years, and the bird followed me everywhere, and though now long gone, her memories and her beauty have never left my heart.”

The List:

  1. Yellow-naped amazon

  2. Scarlet macaw

  3. Yellow-faced parrot

  4. Nanday Parakeet

  5. Hyacinth Macaw

  6. Pacfic Parakeet

  7. Yellow-chevroned Parakeet

  8. Sun Parakeet

  9. Australian Budgerigar

  10. Carolina Parakeet

  11. Heracles inexpectatus

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