Order Psittaciformes Scientific name Amazona versicolor Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Superfamily Psittacoidea Subfamily Arinae | |
 | ||
Similar Red‑necked amazon, Parrot, Saint Vincent amazon, Bird, Amazon parrot | ||
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.
Contents
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss. 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 galvanised popular support to save the species, and by 1990 the species had increased to 350 birds.Although the population in Saint Lucia is small it is still expanding.
The story of its salvation from the brink of extinction (including the influence of conservationist Paul Butler) is told in Chapter 7 of the 2010 book "Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard" by Chip & Dan Heath.
Identification
The amazon parrot is approximately 43 cm tall. It is an extremely colourful parrot with a blue face and forehead, red area on breast fading to maroon and mottled on lower breast and bell, a red speculum, dark blue primaries, with tail tipped yellow. This the only parrot endemic St Lucia.
Captivity
The St Lucia Amazon parrot 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 fletch when they are 70 to 77 days old.
References
