The Cuban Parrot (Amazona leucocephala) is also known as the Rose-throated Parrot. It’s local to Cuba, but is also found in the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. In the Caymans, the Cuban Parrot is legally protected from hunting and trapping, but in Cuba it is threatened by trapping and poaching for international trade. (Note that this trade is largely illegal, because the Cuban Parrot is listed in Appendices I and II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Despite this, recent populations surveys suggest that the bird is not as rare, nor its habitat as fragmented as was once feared, and the Cuban Parrot is not yet classed as being endangered (although it is ‘near threatened’).
Find out more about the Cuban Parrot from the IUCN, BirdLife International, Arkive and Wikipedia. And check out this amazing photo on Flickr of a Cuban Parrot in flight.
This post is part of a series to celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival.
[Photo: Guillaume Thomassin]
