Yellow-shouldered amazon

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Yellow-shouldered amazon
A pet on a wooden climbing frame in Venezuela

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Species:
A. barbadensis
Binomial name
Amazona barbadensis
(Gmelin, JF, 1788)

The yellow-shouldered amazon (Amazona barbadensis), also known as the yellow-shouldered parrot, is a

La Blanquilla, and the island of Bonaire (Caribbean Netherlands). It has been extirpated from and reintroduced to Aruba and introduced to Curaçao
.

Taxonomy

The yellow-shouldered amazon was described and illustrated in 1738 by the English naturalist

monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[9]

Description

Front view

The yellow-shouldered amazon is mainly green and about 33 cm long (~13 inches). 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

wing-speculum.[11]

The yellow-shouldered amazon can be distinguished from the very similar orange-winged amazon by the latter's lack of yellow on its shoulders and blue colouration around the eyes. Another way of distinguishing it from other Amazona species is its somewhat higher pitched vocalizations.[12]

Distribution and habitat

A. barbadensis is endemic to northern Venezuela, Bonaire (which may have less than 400 birds[13]), and other islands in the area. On the Venezuelan island of Margarita, it is extirpated from the east side, which is heavily commercialized and a popular tourist destination, existing only on the Macanao Peninsula.[14] Also native to Aruba, it went locally extinct by 1947. In January of 2024, a population of over two dozen of these birds was reintroduced to the island and is doing well.[15] An introduced population exists on Curaçao. Unlike other Amazona members, it is typically found in arid habitats, such as desert scrub and dry forests.[12][16][17]

Behavior

Food and feeding

It feeds on fruits, seeds, and flowers, frequently consuming parts of cactus plants.[12][16] The parrot is able to survive with minimal water, getting a large amount of moisture from their diet. This is especially clear on La Blanquilla, a small island with no natural bodies of water. The cacti that they so often eat are filled with liquid, in both the stems and fruits, and this keeps them alive in their arid environment.[14]

Breeding

The yellow-shouldered amazon typically nests in holes in trees, cliffs, or cacti, and lays 2-5 eggs.[16] Total clutch size and hatching success of this species on Margarita Island are among the highest documented for the genus Amazona, suggesting a high reproductive potential for the species [18] It is highly gregarious, and can sometimes roost in communally in tall trees, forming groups of as many as 700.[16] The population on Bonaire appears to breed slower than is typical for the species, bringing it in line with other members of the genus.[19]

Status

Possible extinct subspecies from Aruba, A. b. canifrons

Declines in several main land populations have been extensively documented, there are believed to be 2,500–10,000 yellow-shouldered amazons in the wild.[20]

Due to ongoing habitat lost, small population size, limited range and overhunting for the

Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[21] On La Blanquilla, the main issues are predation by feral cats and hunting by local fishermen and Naval personnel.[14] It is listed on Appendix I of CITES. Thanks to local surveillance by the Venezuelan NGO Provita, poaching has been significantly lowered in certain areas.[13]

The population on the Caribbean island of Margarita had been as low as 750 birds in 1989, but thanks to conservation efforts, there were an estimated 2,400 by 2002,[22] although different estimates describe just 2,000 in 2015.[16] These efforts involved, among other things, the breeding and releasing of captive individuals, which was done with much success in the 1990s.[23]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22686325A198373501.en
    . Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ^ Albin, Eleazar; Derham, William (1738). A Natural History of Birds : Illustrated with a Hundred and One Copper Plates, Curiously Engraven from the Life. Vol. 3. London: Printed for the author and sold by William Innys. p. 11, Plate 11.
  4. ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 4. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 236–237.
  5. ^ Latham, John (1781). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 1, Part 1. London: Printed for Benj. White. p. 284, No. 90.
  6. ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1788). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 339.
  7. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1937). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 220.
  8. ^ Lesson, René (1831). Traité d'Ornithologie, ou Tableau Méthodique (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: F.G. Levrault. p. 189.
  9. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Parrots, cockatoos"
    . IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  10. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  11. ^ "Species factsheet: Amazona barbadensis". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 22 August 2008.
  12. ^ a b c "Yellow-shouldered Parrot - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  13. ^ a b "Yellow-shouldered parrot Conservation Case Study | The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund". www.speciesconservation.org. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  14. ^ a b c Silvius, Kirsten (1991). "Parrots, Poachers and Payloaders: Status and Natural History of the Yellow-shouldered Amazon on Margarita Island, Venezuela". AFA Watchbird. 18 (4): 17–19.
  15. ^ Johnson, Jessica (2024-01-11). "The First Yellow-Shouldered Amazon Take Free Flight Into Aruba's Nature". DCNA. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  16. ^ a b c d e Farrows. "Yellow-shouldered Parrot: Species in World Land Trust reserves". World Land Trust. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  17. ^ "Dutch Caribbean Species Register". www.dutchcaribbeanspecies.org. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  18. S2CID 86353277
    .
  19. ^ Williams, Samuel R. (2010). Factors affecting the life history, abundance and distribution of the yellow-shouldered Amazon parrot (Amazona barbadensis) on Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles (phd thesis). University of Sheffield.
  20. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2013.07.032
    .
  21. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22686325A110628721.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Threatened Caribbean species and habitats, Venezuela". Whitley Award. 2002-12-31. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  23. S2CID 85239736
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amazona barbadensis.
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