Saint Lucia amazon

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Saint Lucia amazon
Amazona versicolor -St Lucia-5a.jpg
On St Lucia
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Species:
A. versicolor
Binomial name
Amazona versicolor
(Müller, 1776)

The Saint Lucia amazon (Amazona versicolor) also known as the Saint Lucia parrot is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is endemic to Saint Lucia and is the country's national bird.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist mountain forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Conservation[]

The species had declined from around 1000 birds in the 1950s to 150 birds in the late 1970s. At that point a conservation program began to save the species, which galvanized popular support to save the species, and by 1990 the species had increased to 300 birds.[2] Although the population in Saint Lucia is small it is still expanding.

Captivity[]

The Saint Lucia amazon is rare in captivity. Not much is known about their breeding requirements. It has been recommended that pairs are isolated in the breeding season because they tend to get aggressive towards other birds during this time. Breeding activities usually start in March and go on until August. The hen lays 1 to 2 eggs which she incubates for 24 days. The young fledge when they are 70 to 77 days old.

Between 1975 - 2021, Jersey Zoo maintained a breeding colony of this species. In 1982, they achieved the first captive breeding success of this species.[3] The offspring of this breeding were returned to the wild. On 2 May 2021, Jersey Zoo announced their last amazon died, ending their tenure with this species. It is maintained in few other collections in Europe.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2020). "Amazona versicolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22686387A179319598. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22686387A179319598.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Edward Whitley, Gerald Durrell's Army, John Murray Publishers Ltd, 1992.
  3. ^ UK first breeding register - http://www.avisoc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UK-First-Breeding-Register.pdf
  4. ^ Zootierliste https://www.zootierliste.de/en/?klasse=2&ordnung=218&familie=22912&art=2130937&subhaltungen=2
Range of Saint Lucia amazon

External links[]


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