Blue-headed parrot
Pionus menstruus (Linnaeus, 1766)
The blue-headed parrot (Pionus menstruus) is a species in the family Psittacidae, order Psittaciformes. Recorded adults weigh 226 g to 254 g and live up to 20.6 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Quick facts about the blue-headed parrot
- Weight
- 226 g – 254 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 20.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the blue-headed parrot live?
Not recorded
What is the blue-headed parrot?
The blue-headed parrot, also known as the blue-headed pionus (Pionus menstruus) is a medium-sized parrot of about 27 cm (11 in) in length. The body is mostly green, with a blue head and neck, and red undertail coverts. It is a resident in tropical and subtropical South America and southern Central America, from Costa Rica, Venezuela and the Caribbean island of Trinidad south to Bolivia and Brazil.
Its habitat is forest and semi-open country, including cultivated areas. It is largely restricted to humid or semi-humid regions, but locally extends into drier habitats, at least along rivers. The blue-headed parrot lays three to five white eggs in a tree cavity.
Blue-headed parrots are noisy birds and make light, high-pitched squeaking sweenk calls. They eat fruit and seeds, and sometimes grain. They roost communally in palm and other trees, and large numbers can be seen at the roost sites at dawn and dusk.
Blue-headed parrots are popular as pets. Compared to other parrot species (like amazons) they are very quiet. They are affectionate, but not known for their talking ability.
From the Wikipedia article “Blue-headed parrot” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue-headed_parrot&oldid=1320594796), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the blue-headed parrot sound like?
Is the blue-headed parrot endangered?
The blue-headed parrot is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the blue-headed parrot classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPsittaciformes
- familyPsittacidae
- genusPionus
- SpeciesPionus menstruus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms Pionus cobaltinus, Psittacus menstruus
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- ببغاء ازرق الراسArabic
- Синьоглав папагалBulgarian
- lloro capblauCatalan
- amazónek černouchýCzech
- amazónek modrohlavýCzech
- parot penlasWelsh
- Blåhovedet PionusDanish
- SchwarzohrpapageiGerman
- blukapa papagoEsperanto
- Loro cabeciazulSpanish
- Cheja cabeciazulSpanish
- Cotorra cabeciazulSpanish
- Loro cabeza azulSpanish
- sinipea-papagoiEstonian
- siniarattiFinnish
- Pione à tête bleueFrench
- crnouha papigaCroatian
- feketefülű papagájHungarian
- Pappagallo testabluItalian
- アケボノインコJapanese
- mėlyngalvė raudonsturplė papūgaLithuanian
- ZwartoormargrietjeDutch
- blåhodepapegøyeNorwegian
- piona niebieskogłowaPolish
- maitaca-de-cabeça-azulPortuguese
- papagaio-de-cabeça-azulPortuguese
- Синеголовый амазонетRussian
- Синеголовый красногузый попугайRussian
- amazoňan čiernosluchýSlovak
- Plavoglavi pionus papagajSerbian
- blåhuvad papegojaSwedish
- Mavi Başlı PapağanTurkish
- папуга-червоногуз синьоголовийUkrainian
- 蓝头鹦哥Chinese
- 藍頭鸚哥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the blue-headed parrot
Other species in the same genus Pionus.

Bronze-winged parrot
Pionus chalcopterus

Dusky parrot
Pionus fuscus

Scaly-headed parrot
Pionus maximiliani

White-crowned parrot
Pionus senilis

Red-billed parrot
Pionus sordidus

Plum-crowned parrot
Pionus tumultuosus
CompareBlue-headed parrot vs Bronze-winged parrotBlue-headed parrot vs Dusky parrotBlue-headed parrot vs Scaly-headed parrotBlue-headed parrot vs White-crowned parrot
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the blue-headed parrot?
An adult blue-headed parrot weighs 226 g – 254 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the blue-headed parrot endangered?
The blue-headed parrot is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the blue-headed parrot live?
The blue-headed parrot has a recorded lifespan of 20.6 years.
What kind of animal is the blue-headed parrot?
The blue-headed parrot (Pionus menstruus) belongs to the family Psittacidae in the order Psittaciformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Blue-headed parrot (Pionus menstruus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-headed-parrot
“Blue-headed parrot (Pionus menstruus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-headed-parrot.
@misc{blue_headed_parrot_2026,
title = {Blue-headed parrot (Pionus menstruus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-headed-parrot},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}