March 9: This morning we checked out a known spot for White-winged Parakeet (the fourth new species of 2014 for birdspix.com) just south of Miami International Airport in “Little Havana.” These sociable birds are noisy and thus not
hard to locate in their nesting palm trees adjacent to a large bank building. The white on the wings is very prominent in flight, but not as obvious when the wings are folded. There are a few Yellow-chevroned Parakeets mixed in with the group, providing a nice comparison between the two species which were formerly considered to be conspecific. At first glance the two species look similar, but besides lacking the white on the wings, Yellow-chevroned has a prominent white eye ring and feathered lores (the space between the eye and the beak).