Critically Endangered
Puerto Rican Amazon
Amazona vittata
Measuring 28–30 cm (11.0–11.8 in), the bird is a predominantly green parrot with a red forehead and white rings around the eyes.
Appearance
Both males and females have predominantly green plumage, though their feathers have blue edges. The primary flight feathers of the wings and the main covert feathers are dark blue. The color of the feathers on the underside varies depending on the body part: the feathers on the underside of the wings, that can be seen during flight, are bright blue. Those in the tail have yellow-green tone.
The Puerto Rican amazon measures 28–30 cm (11.0–11.8 in) and weighs 250–300 g (8.8–10.6 oz), or 275 g (9.7 oz) on average.
Published measurements include mass about 15.6.
Range and habitat
The Puerto Rican amazon, also known as the Puerto Rican parrot or iguaca (Taíno), is the only extant parrot endemic to Puerto Rico. This parrot's diet is varied and consists of flowers, fruits, leaves, bark and nectar obtained from the forest canopy. The species is the only remaining native parrot to Puerto Rico and has been listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union since 1994.
Once widespread and abundant, the population declined drastically in the 19th and early 20th centuries with the removal of most of its native habitat. The species has completely vanished from Vieques and Mona Island. There is also evidence the species may have inhabited other nearby islands, such as Antigua, Barbuda and the Virgin Islands.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The Puerto Rican amazon is diurnal, typically beginning its day half an hour after sunrise. It is generally secretive when inside its nest, using its green plumage as camouflage.
In contrast, it may be vocal and noisy when outside the nest. Like almost all amazons, the Puerto Rican amazon is a herbivore.
In crisis
Some authorities claim that there were once more than a million individuals, while others suggest a more modest population of 100,000. Heinrich Moritz Gaede, a German naturalist, declared that by 1836 the parrot population had noticeably declined. By the 1950s, there were only 200 parrots in the wild, and in 1975 the population reached an absolute low of 13 individuals.
In the aftermath of the hurricane the population was estimated at 23 individuals. In 2004, the wild population was 30–35 individuals, and the long-term trend appears to be stable albeit with some fluctuations.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Puerto Rican Amazon is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Puerto Rican Amazon, Wikidata item Q510792. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
