Saint Lucia amazon

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.

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

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist mountain 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 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.

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.

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 fledge when they are 70 to 77 days old.

The current only known place outside of St Lucia in which there are St Lucia Amazon parrots captive is Jersey Zoo, the headquarters of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. It was here that there was also the first successful captive breeding of the bird. The two offspring were returned to Saint Lucia.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2013). "Amazona versicolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Edward Whitley, Gerald Durrell's Army, John Murray Publishers Ltd, 1992.
Range of Saint Lucia amazon


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