Olive-throated Parakeet

How to find it

Listen first, because the chatter or a flash of blue in the wings is often how you notice these fast fliers. Check forest edges and fruiting trees, where birds in Costa Rica are often seen. Look under fruiting trees for scattered food remains that suggest a flock has been feeding. Once the flock lands, scan the foliage patiently, since feeding birds can be surprisingly hard to see. Tortuguero and Sarapiquí are natural places to try on the Caribbean side.

How to recognise it

Look for these marks:

Size: small, about 23 cm long.

Colour: mostly green, with a dull olive throat and a dull olive-brown chest.

Eye: a white eye-ring, with an orange eye in adults and a brown eye in young birds.

In flight: small blue patches on the wings.

Red: none anywhere in the plumage.

In the Caribbean lowlands its flight feathers are darker and contrast more than on the Crimson-fronted Parakeet, which is a useful point when you sort long-tailed parakeets.

What it sounds like

Recording: Zac Peterson, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It often travels in small flocks or pairs. Flocks fly fast and tight, then dive into trees a little taller than the rest. It feeds on seeds, fruits and blossoms, and scattered food remains under a fruiting tree can show it has been feeding there.

In Costa Rica it nests between January and April. Nests are in tree cavities, and arboreal termite nests are reportedly used.

Where it lives

Across its range it is fairly common in tropical lowlands. It prefers semi-open country with scattered trees and woodland, and is locally found in towns and suburbs.

In Costa Rica it reaches about 700 m elevation and is mainly a Caribbean-side bird. A Costa Rican birding writer calls it a bird of the northern Caribbean lowlands that needs more forested habitat than the Crimson-fronted Parakeet does. Photos have also been recorded at Rincón de la Vieja National Park in Guanacaste and at Caño Negro.

When to see it

In Costa Rica the breeding season runs January to April, in the dry and early wet seasons.

Similar birds

Crimson-fronted Parakeet is the long-tailed parakeet of the Central Valley, and it shows a red front and red underwings, which this species lacks. Mixed flocks have been reported in Costa Rica, so check for the dirty brownish breast and whitish eye-ring to separate the two.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Ricans use the name Perico Azteco, and one Costa Rican bird site also lists plain "perico" as a common name. Elsewhere it is Perico Pechiolivo in Nicaragua and Perico Pechisucio (or pecho sucio) in Mexico.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R), while BirdLife International lists the species as Near Threatened, with habitat loss one threat in Costa Rica.

Photography tips

Fast fliers are hard to photograph, so listen for the chatter and watch where a flock drops in. Fruiting trees and forest edges are the best places to wait, since birds come to feed there. Feeding birds can be surprisingly hard to see in foliage, so patience pays off.