St. Vincent Amazon

St. Vincent Amazon
At the Botanical Gardens, Kingstown, Saint Vincent
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Species: A. guildingii
Binomial name
Amazona guildingii
(Vigors, 1837)

The St. Vincent Amazon, Amazona guildingii also known as St. Vincent Parrot is a large, approximately 40 cm long, multi-colored amazon parrot with a yellowish white, blue and green head, greenish-bronze upperparts plumage, and violet blue-green wings.

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Description

40 cm (16 in) long, mostly green, multi-colored amazon parrot with a yellowish white, blue and green head, greenish-bronze upperparts, grey feet, reddish eye, and violet blue-green wings. Its tail feathers are blue with broad yellow tips. There is a less yellow-brown morph and a less common green morph.[1] It has grey feet and reddish eyes. Both sexes are similar. The young has lighter plumage and brown iris.

Range

The St. Vincent Amazon is endemic to moist hill forests of the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent in the Lesser Antilles. Its diet consists mainly of fruits, nuts, flowers and seeds. The female usually lays one to two eggs.

Conservation and status

The Nicholas Wildlife Aviary Complex, located within the Botanic Gardens St. Vincent maintains a vital captive breeding and conservation program to conserve the St Vincent Parrot.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, very small population size, limited range on one island, trapping for cage bird trade and occasional natural disasters, the St. Vincent Parrot is considered Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I and II of CITES.

In popular culture

The St. Vincent Amazon, or St. Vincent Parrot, appeared on a $5 Grenadines of St. Vincent postage stamp in 1990 (catalogued as SG703).

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References

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