Newsletter / Blog
2011-07-10 Puerto Rico Amazon - extremely endangered.
The Puerto Rican Amazon - Amazona vittata - also known as the Puerto Rican Parrot,
is the only parrot indigenous to the USA left in the wild. This parrot
is extremely endangered.
The bird is a predominantly green BIRD with a red forehead and white rings around the eyes. They reach sexual maturity between three and four years of age. Once the female lays eggs she will remain in the nest and continuously
incubate them until hatching. The chicks are fed by both parents and
will fledge in 60 to 65 days.
This parrot's diet is varied and consists of flowers, fruits, leaves, bark and nectar obtained from the forest.
This parrot
is extremely endangered. They were listed as an
endangered species (one of the 10 most endangered birds in the world)
back in 1967 and the number of birds in the wild are still under 40 to
date. The USFW has stepped forward to aid in a recovery project to try
to increase wild populations with releasing captive bred birds. As we
know, captive bred birds do not fair well in the wild. Many of the
skills that are taught by being a member of an established flock are
lost when captive bred. They did however build up over 100 of these
birds for their captive breeding program. |