Touit


Touit is a genus of Neotropical parrots in the family Psittacidae.
The genus was introduced by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855 with the scarlet-shouldered parrotlet as the type species. The genus name is derived from the extinct Tupi language that was spoken by native people in Brazil: Tuí eté means "really little parrot". In 1648 the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave used Tuiete for a small parrot in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae.
The genus contains the following eight species:
ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Touit batavicusLilac-tailed parrotletColombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela
Touit huetiiScarlet-shouldered parrotletBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela
Touit costaricensisRed-fronted parrotletCentral America in Costa Rica and Panama
Touit dilectissimusBlue-fronted parrotlet or red-winged parrotletcoastal Andes to Peru
Touit purpuratusSapphire-rumped parrotletBrazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Touit melanonotusBrown-backed parrotletsouth-eastern Brazil from Bahia to southern São Paulo
Touit surdusGolden-tailed parrotleteastern Brazil.
Touit stictopterusSpot-winged parrotletColombia, Ecuador, and Peru