| Jewels of the Caribbean Endangered Island Amazons |
| I have been under the assumption that all Amazons were green with different colored heads and they all lived in the Amazon rainforest in South America. WRONG! I�ve just discovered three unbelievably beautiful and rare island Amazons that for the moment inhabit the rain forests of the exotic Caribbean Islands of St. Vincent and Dominica. The Rare Species Conservatory Foundation founded in 1989, has dedicated its small, focused staff to preserving the habitats of certain �flagship species� (those high-profile species that people are very interested in saving for one reason or another) and thereby influence protection for the ecosystems they represent. Parrots illustrate the �flagship species� concept better than just about any other species. The fight to preserve one of these endangered �flagship� parrots shows the power of this organization in action. The Imperial Amazon of Dominica in the Caribbean may well have escaped certain extinction because of the efforts of the RSCF. THE IMPERIAL AMAZON OR SISSEROU The Imperial Amazon, the national bird of Dominica, is a gorgeous creature whose multi-colored feathers make it stand out amongst the mostly green mainland Amazons. Known as the Sisserou on the island of Dominica, the Imperial Amazon is the rarest of all Amazon parrots. At 18 inches long, it is the largest and most beautiful of al the parrots in the genus Amazona. It is a stocky parrot covered with dark maroon-purple feathers on its head variably tinged with greenish-blue and tipped with black. The breast is reddish-purple with a black border. The back and wings are green with blue and black-tipped feathers. The Imperial has yellow to orange iris, a grayish beak and grey legs. The Imperial Amazon lives in rainforest canopy at high elevations. Before the advent of Hurricane David in 1979, it was found in several areas on the island, but having been decimated to so few birds, the population was barely able to survive the death toll of the hurricane. Today there are somewhere between 100 and 200 birds in existence and those are only found in one location, on the steep slopes of the Caribbean�s largest volcano, Morne Diablotin. So difficult are they to observe because of the terrain and their shyness, much of what we know of the Imperial is anecdotal. Pairs of the Sisserou or Imperial Amazon defend their nesting territory throughout the year. They breed February through June in cavities high in the trunks of chataignier and gommier trees. They have an extremely low reproductive rate. They are said to nest only every other year and produce only one chick from a clutch of two eggs. At one time this bird was hunted and/or stolen for the pet trade almost to the point of extinction. Now both activities are illegal on Dominica and they are not much of a threat to the national bird. Unfortunately, there are still other very real threats to their survival and extinction always looms around the corner for so small a population. Predators were and still are a threat to the Amazon�s survival. Boas, Broad-winged Hawks, and rats are all a problem, but the most serious threat is the opossum. Introduced in the nineteenth century, they pose a very real threat to eggs and chicks of an already slow to reproduce species. Habitat loss is one of the major and most important threats to their survival. More forest was lost during the 1980�s on Dominica than had been lost in the previous 1,000 years. Deforestation due to logging, even selective logging which destroys the old growth trees they prefer, is the greatest danger. Also aerial spraying of crops has reportedly led to death and blindness. On a more positive note, due to the efforts of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation and other conservation groups a new national park has come into being. First proposed in 1976, the 8,000+ acre Morne Diablotin National Park finally was established on January 21, 2000. This park, more than anything else is the best hope for the continuation of the glorious Imperial Amazon, national treasure of Dominica. THE RED-NECKED AMAZON OR JACO The second jewel in the crown is the somewhat less rare, but nonetheless endangered, Red-necked Amazon or Jaco as it is known in its island home. The Jaco is also endemic to the island of Dominica and even shares some territory with the Imperial Amazon. The Red-necked Amazon lives on the same volcanic mountain forests as the Imperial Amazon, usually in lower altitudes, but they do seem to live and feed peacefully together in the spaces where their territory overlaps, except for selection of nest sites, when the larger Imperial usually wins the site of choice. The Jaco is a noisy, gregarious bird that is also a slow breeder having small clutches and breeding every other year. While not quite as brilliantly colored as the Imperial, they are quite pretty being mostly green with feathers of the nape, neck and mantle tipped in black and the forehead, crown, lores and cheeks are violet-blue. The red throat is what gives the Jaco its other name. Its tail is tipped with yellow and it has a horn-colored beak with a grey tip, grey legs and red-orange iris. The Jaco�s story is fairly similar to the Imperial Amazon. At one time it could be found all over its island home of Dominica, but due to habitat destruction and predation by humans for meat as late as the 1970s. After Hurricane David and 1979 and the hurricane in 1980 their number was estimated to be as low as 150 to 225 birds. Thanks to conservation efforts, the creation of the Morne Diablotin National Park, and bans on hunting and exportation, their numbers are on the increase and may be as numerous as 1,000 birds today. |