The St. Vincent Parrot (Amazona guildingii) is one of two species of birds endemic to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. (The other, featured yesterday, is the Whistling Warbler.) In the wild, it’s found in moist forest on the upper east and west ridges of St. Vincent.
Populations of the St. Vincent Parrot were in decline for much of the 20th century, but in the 1980s determined conservation efforts commenced, and the parrot population nearly doubled in just over a decade. The St. Vincent Parrot is protected by law, its habitat is also legally protected via its incorporation in the St. Vincent Parrot Reserve, and there is a captive breeding programme in place at the aviary in St. Vincent’s Botanical Gardens. In its most recent conservation status assessment, BirdLife International said:
Habitat conservation, law enforcement and public awareness campaigns have halted this species’s slide towards extinction, and even reversed some of the previous declines.
Find out more about the St. Vincent Parrot from BirdLife and at Arkive (where there are four videos that are well worth watching).
This post is part of a series to celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival.
[Photo: Chennette]
