Yellow-shouldered Amazon
| Yellow-shouldered Amazon | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A pet on a wooden climbing frame in Venezuela | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Psittacidae |
| Genus: | Amazona |
| Species: | A. barbadensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Amazona barbadensis (Gmelin, 1788) |
|
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon, Amazona barbadensis also known as Yellow-shouldered Parrot is a parrot of the genus Amazona that is found in the arid areas of northern Venezuela, the Venezuelan islands of Margarita and La Blanquilla, and the island of Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles). It has been extirpated from Aruba and possibly also Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles).
Contents |
[edit] Description
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon is mainly green and about 33 cm long. It has a whitish forehead and lores, and a yellow crown, ocular region and - often - ear coverts and chin. The bare eye-ring is white. The thighs and the bend of the wing ("shoulder") are yellow, but both can be difficult to see. The throat, cheeks and belly often have a bluish tinge. As most members of the genus Amazona, it has broad dark blue tips to the remiges and a red wing-speculum.[1] Its beak is horn coloured.
In its range the yellow shoulder patch and extensive yellow on the head distinguish the Yellow-shouldered Amazon from other Amazona species, which have red or orange on the shoulder and less yellow on the head (the Orange-winged Amazon, which has as much yellow to the head as some Yellow-shouldered Amazons, has a blue ocular region). However, outside its range, several other Amazona species have as much - or more - yellow on their heads.
[edit] Behaviour
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon call is a rolling cur'r'r'k.
[edit] Diet and feeding
It feeds on fruits, seeds, and cactus flowers.
[edit] Breeding
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon nests in a tree hole and lays 3-4 eggs. It is highly gregarious when not breeding, forming flocks of up to 100 birds.
[edit] Status
There are believed to be 2,500–10,000 Yellow-shouldered Amazon parrots in the wild.
Due to ongoing habitat lost, small population size, limited range and overhunting for the cagebird trade, the Yellow-shouldered Amazon is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I and II of CITES.
[edit] Illustrations of plumage
-
Top of head
-
Side
-
Front
-
Side
[edit] References
- ^ "Species factsheet: Amazona barbadensis". BirdLife International (2008). http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=1677&m=0. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
- BirdLife International (2004). Amazona barbadensis. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map, a brief justification of why this species is vulnerable, and the criteria used
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Island Resource Foundation. Threatened and Endangered Birds of the Insular Caribbean, Yellow-shouldered Amazon, Amazona barbadensis. Downloaded on 5 June 2006 from http://www.irf.org/bbarden.htm
[edit] External links
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Amazona barbadensis
- Yellow-Shouldered Amazon Parrots - Avian Web
- Parrotwatch - watch video of Yellow-shouldered Amazon Parrots in the nest
|
|||||||||||
 |
This article relating to parrots is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
