Photographer: Adam Riley   Destination: Guyana

The Sun Parakeet, one of the rarest birds in the wild, is a medium-sized, brightly coloured parrot native to north-eastern South America. Besides their orange-flushed underparts and face, they are predominantly golden-yellow in colour; with prominent greens and dark blues appearing on the edge of the wings and tail, creating a striking contrast with the body’s warmer colours.

These colourful parakeets are very social birds, usually living in flocks of about 20-30 individuals. While flocks are relatively quiet during feeding, they are known to be very noisy and vocal when in flight. In the rare instance that they leave the flock or get separated, they will call to each other with high pitched squawks and screams which can be heard hundreds of metres away.

Given its brilliant colouration and curious nature, Sun Parakeets have become popular as pets, unfortunately leading to vast numbers of them being caught in the wild each year to be used in the trade (where they are known as Sun Conures). Combined with the loss of habitat and hunting for their plumage, this has led to their range and population decreasing dramatically hence them being listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List.

Recent sightings suggest the Sun Parakeet is mainly found at altitudes below 1200 metres, at the edge of the humid forests that grow in the foothills of the Guiana Shield. They will occasionally brave open savannah habitats, but this is usually to fly between patches of forest.

Our Sun Parakeet & Red Siskin Extension 2016 tour targets this gorgeous species in southern Guyana, as well as other very special birds and mammals such as Red Siskin, Rio Branco Antbird and Hoary-throated Spinetail.  Since only 2,000 Sun Parakeets are estimated to be left in the wild, and can only be found in a relatively small region of north-eastern South America, we take every precaution to preserve our relationships with the local communities who ensure its conservation. Our Guyana – Birds & Wildlife 2016 tour, which precedes the Sun Parakeet and Red Siskin Extension, is also designed to target many sought-after species through much of Guyana, such as Harpy and Crested Eagle, Rufous Crabhawk, Blood-coloured Woodpecker, Guianan Red Cotinga, Capuchinbird and the classic Guianan Cock-of-the-rock. Limited spaces are available on this tour and Rockjumper is offering a discount of 5% on these remaining spaces.