Guadeloupe amazon

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Guadeloupe amazon
A sepia line drawing showing five birds sitting on a tree, a black bird in flight and a tortoise or turtle on the ground underneath.
Du Tertre's 1667 illustration showing three Guadeloupe amazons (8) and one Lesser Antillean macaw
(7) on a tree at the left

Extinct (c. 1779)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Species:
†A. violacea
Binomial name
†Amazona violacea
(Gmelin, 1789)
Location of Guadeloupe
Synonyms
List
  • Psittacus violaceus Gmelin, 1788
  • Chrysotis violaceus (Rothschild, 1905)
  • Amazona violaceas (Rothschild, 1905)
  • Amazona violaceus (Rothschild, 1907)
  • Anodorhynchus purpurascens (Rothschild, 1907)

The Guadeloupe amazon or Guadeloupe parrot (Amazona violacea) is a

Amazona in 1905, and is thought to have been related to, or possibly the same as, the extant imperial amazon. A tibiotarsus and an ulna bone from the island of Marie-Galante may belong to the Guadeloupe amazon. In 1905, a species of extinct violet macaw
was also claimed to have lived on Guadeloupe, but in 2015, it was suggested to have been based on a description of the Guadeloupe amazon.

According to contemporary descriptions, the head, neck and underparts of the Guadeloupe amazon were mainly violet or slate, mixed with green and black; the back was brownish green; and the wings were green, yellow and red. It had

iridescent feathers, and was able to raise a "ruff
" of feathers around its neck. The bird fed on fruits and nuts, and the male and female took turns sitting on the nest. It was eaten by French settlers, who also destroyed its habitat. Rare by 1779, it appears to have become extinct by the end of the 18th century.

Taxonomy

The Guadeloupe amazon was first described in 1664 by the French botanist

scientific name Psittacus violaceus for the bird in his 1789 edition of Systema Naturae, based on the writings of Du Tertre, Brisson, and Buffon.[2][3][4] The specific name violaceus means "violet".[5]

Photo of a mainly violet and green parrot in a cage
The imperial amazon of Dominica is possibly related or may be the same species.

In 1891, the Italian zoologist

hypothetical extinct species since it was only known from old accounts.[8]

In 2001, the American ornithologists Matthew Williams and

zoogeographical grounds.[4] In 2015, the ecologists Monica Gala and Arnaud Lenoble stated that an ulna bone from Marie-Galante, which had been assigned to the extinct Lesser Antillean macaw (Ara guadeloupensis) by Williams and Steadman in 2001 and to the imperial amazon by Olson and Maiz in 2008, instead belonged to the Guadeloupe amazon.[12][11]

The "violet macaw"

Illustration of an entirely violet macaw on a branch
1907 illustration of the "violet macaw" by Keulemans

In 1905, the British banker and zoologist

Caribs called it "onécouli".[13][14][15] Greenway suggested this "mythical macaw" may have been based on a careless description of the Guadeloupe amazon, or possibly an imported Lear's macaw (Anodorhynchus leari) from South America. He was unable to check the reference given by Rothschild, but suggested it may have been a publication by the Spanish historian Martín Fernández de Navarrete.[8]

In 2000, the English writer

second voyage of Christopher Columbus.[17][18]

In 2015, Lenoble reviewed overlooked historical Spanish and French texts, and identified the sources on which Rothschild had based the violet macaw. An 1828 publication by de Navarrete mentioned parrots on Guadeloupe during the second voyage of Columbus, but did not state their colour or include the term "onécouli". Lenoble instead pointed to a Carib-French dictionary by the French missionary

francised version of the bird's name ("onécouli"), and implied it could have been a macaw. Lenoble therefore concluded that the supposed "violet macaw" was based on misidentified references to the Guadeloupe amazon, and that the Lesser Antillean macaw was the only macaw species that lived on Guadeloupe.[18][19]

Description

Illustration of a slate, green, and yellow parrot on a branch
Hypothetical illustration of the Guadeloupe amazon by Keulemans, 1907

Du Tertre described the Guadeloupe amazon as follows in 1654:

The Parrot of Guadeloupe is almost as large as a fowl. The beak and the eye are bordered with carnation. All the feathers of the head, neck, and underparts are of a violet color, mixed with a little green and black, and changeable like the throat of a pigeon. All the upper part of the back is brownish green. The long quills are black, the others yellow, green, and red, and it has on the wing-coverts two rosettes of rose color.[2]

Labat described the bird as follows in 1742:

The Parrots of these islands are distinguishable from those of the mainland of Guinea (? Guiana) by their different plumage; those of Guadeloupe are a little smaller than the Macaws. The head, neck, and underparts are slaty, with a few green and black feathers; the back is wholly green, the wings green, yellow, and red.[2]

Clark noted that the

covert feathers. Clark listed features of the imperial amazon which contrasted with those of the Guadeloupe amazon, such as its deep purple head and underparts, green upperparts, wings with dark brown, purple, green, blue and red feathers.[2]

As well as being described as violet by Du Tertre and slate by Labat, the head and underparts of the bird were described as ashy blue by Brisson. Greenway suggested some of this discrepancy may have been because Labat confused the Guadeloupe amazon with the Martinique amazon, as he appears not to have distinguished between the birds. Hume consolidated these descriptions under the term "slaty-blue".[2][8][4]

Rothschild featured an illustration of the Guadeloupe amazon in his 1907 book

primary feathers were yellow, whereas all the covert feathers are yellow in the illustration, apart from a red edge, and the head and underparts are slate.[20]

Behaviour and ecology

A sepia line drawing showing three macaws sitting on the branches of a tree; they are labelled "Papagay", "Perique Papagay" and "Aras".
Labat's 1722 illustration of a Guadeloupe amazon and Guadeloupe parakeet above, and a Lesser Antillean macaw

In 1664 Du Tertre described some behavioural traits of the Guadeloupe amazon, and listed items among its diet:

When it erects the feathers of its neck, it makes a beautiful ruff about its head, which it seems to admire, as a peacock its tail. It has a strong voice, talks very distinctly, and learns quickly if taken young. It lives on the wild fruits which grow in the forests, except that it does not eat the manchioneel. Cotton seed intoxicates it, and affects it as wine does a man; and for that reason they eat it with great eagerness ... The flavor of its flesh is excellent, but changeable, according to the kind of food. If it eats cashew nuts, the flesh has an agreeable flavor of garlic; if 'bois des inde' it has a flavor of cloves and cinnamon; if on bitter fruits, it becomes bitter like gall. If it feeds on genips, the flesh becomes wholly black, but that does not prevent its having a very fine flavor. When it feeds on guavas it is at its best, and then the French commit great havoc among them.[2]

Clark noted that the Saint Vincent amazon and other amazon species can also raise a "ruff" of feathers around their neck when excited.[2]

In 1667, Du Tertre repeated his description of the Guadeloupe amazon, and added some details about its breeding behaviour:

We had two which built their nest a hundred paces from our house in a large tree. The male and the female sat alternately, and came one after the other to feed at the house, where they brought their young when they were large enough to leave the nest.[2]

Extinction

In 1779, Buffon stated that the Guadeloupe amazon had become very rare, and indicated why it may have become extinct:[4]

We have never seen this parrot, and it is not found in Cayenne. It is even very rare in Guadeloupe today, for none of the inhabitants of that island have given us any information concerning it; but that is not extraordinary, for since the islands have been inhabited, the number of parrots has greatly diminished, and Dutertre remarks in particular of this one that the French colonists wage a terrible war on it in the season when it is especially fat and succulent.[2]

Greenway suggested that both the French settlers and their slaves ate the Guadeloupe amazon as well as destroyed its habitat. The supposedly related imperial amazon survives in the steep mountain forests of Dominica. Guadeloupe is less mountainous than Dominica, more suitable for farming and, historically, has had a larger human population. Because of this, there would have been a greater pressure on the Guadeloupe amazon and it appears to have become extinct by the end of the 18th century. All the amazon species still extant on the West Indian islands are endangered, since they are trapped for the pet-trade and overhunted for food, and also because of destruction of their habitat.[4][8]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728701A94994037.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^
    JSTOR 4069996
    .
  3. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.62572
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1
    .
  5. ISBN 978-1408133262
    .
  6. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.8233
    .
  7. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-486-21869-4
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8493-2001-9. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2014-02-07.
  10. ^ Ottens-Wainright, P.; Halanych, K. M.; Eberhard, J. R.; Burke, R. I.; Wiley, J. W.; Gnam, R. S.; Aguilera, X. G. (2004). "Independent geographic origin of the genus Amazona in the West Indies". Journal of Caribbean Ornithology. 17: 23–49.
  11. ^
    S2CID 54593515
    .
  12. S2CID 18597644
    .
  13. ^ Rothschild, W. (1905). "Notes on extinct parrots from the West Indies". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 16: 13–15.
  14. ^ Rothschild, W. (1905). "On extinct and vanishing birds". Ornis (Proceedings of the 4th International Ornithological Congress, London). 14: 191–217.
  15. ^ a b Rothschild, W. (1907). Extinct Birds. London: Hutchinson & Co. pp. 55–57.
  16. ISBN 978-0-670-81787-0
    .
  17. ^ Wiley, J. W.; Kirwan, G. M. (2013). "The extinct macaws of the West Indies, with special reference to Cuban Macaw Ara tricolor". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 133: 125–156.
  18. ^ a b Lenoble, A. (2015). "The Violet Macaw (Anodorhynchus purpurascens Rothschild, 1905) did not exist". Journal of Caribbean Ornithology. 28: 17–21.
  19. ISBN 978-2-900339-13-8
    .
  20. LCCN 11035036
    .
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