The St.
Lucia Amazon with a scientific name of Amazona versicolor is the sole kind of
parrot you will find in St. Lucia. “Versicolor” means“of many colours”. This fine
bird has green wings, its face and forehead that is blue, a red breast. Feathers
that are dark blue and a yellow tail tip. This indeed is a parrot of many
colours. You can identify it not only because it’s the only parrot present in
St. Lucia’s rainforest but also because of its unmistakable noisy sound,
cackling, screeching and honking noices.
St. Lucia
Amazon is also known to some other names such as Jacquot and St. Lucia parrot. It
grows to an estimated size of 43 centimeters. Its bird relatives are the
Tacuman Amazon, Puerto Rican Amazon and Imperial Amazon found in the
neighboring countries.
You will
find the St. Lucia parrot in the early morning and evening at treetops hunting
for food on fruit bearing trees, feeding on fruits and seeds. It rests in tree
holes and builds their nests in it too where it breeds during the months of
February and March. Female St. Lucia parrot lays an average of 3 eggs and
incubates them for around 28 days. As the chicks hatch, they are at first bald
and blind so they rely on their parents for food, warmth and protection. The
parent parrot feeds her young by regurgitating food on them and after about 80
days, the young can now join the adult birds flying in the forest.
Only found
in the Caribbean specifically in St. Lucia, this aviary creature flies across
central-southern mountains having a flying range of 140 km.
When you
visit St. Lucia, you will certainly find this bird on maintains, or at rain
forests where they fly, nest their young, finding food on trees or singing on
treetops.
There are
threats to its numbers because of the growing population in St. Lucia.
Inhabitants sometimes hunt this bird, use it for entertainment or even use them
as ways to earn money. Logging and deforestation also contributes to reducing
numbers of St. Lucia parrots. Deforestation has caused loss of habitat for
birds and limits their source of food and nesting place. Natural disasters also
are a factor. Hurricanes cause the death of some parrots. Hunting of parrots is
prevalent despite the fact that the government raises the ban for hunting.
Conservation
has been the work of the government in protecting this endemic bird. They have
built awareness in protecting and conserving the St. Lucia parrot. They also made a captive-breeding programme that
aims to increase the number of this kind of bird.
