Abstract
St. Lucia is a small island in the southern Caribbean known for its pristine rainforests. The St. Lucia Amazon or St. Lucia Parrot (Amazona versicolor), one of the most amazing parrots in the world, is endemic to this island and is the national bird of St.
_ Lucia.
As a bird person in general, when I travel I always try to see the
native birds or get a glance at any native parrots when I am visiting a country or area where they can be seen. Recently, on a cruise through the Caribbean I had the opportunity to visit a small education center operated by the St. Lucia forestry department. It was not far from the port of Castries, the capitol of the island nation. With so many other sights to take in on a short visit, including breath taking water falls, incredible forested mountains, and the varied fields of tropical fruits and crops, the trip by short bus to the education center was a vacation in and of itself But I will never forget the sense of awe I felt when I glanced upon their national bird for the very first time. You just find yourself staring when you are face to face with the stunning bright blue faces ofAmazona versicolor.
It might be important to mention that the education center, funded by the St. Lucia Forestry Department, is always in need of money for improvements. They take in sick or injured wildlife and rehabilitate it for release or use in their education programs. Being an island nation, supplies such as good welded wire, commercially manufactured cage clips, bowls, perches, and things we often take for granted, are simply not available. If they can be acquired, they are often at a premium and not affordable to these programs. Remember that St. Lucia is a very poor country, and often the governmental budgets do not include wildlife programs. It is for this reason that the people on our cruise all chipped in and put together a donation when we were allowed to view the facility. In the photos you will see several of the visitors from this "unofficial" group of AFA members and supporters. Our group included me, Rick Jordan, Lena Weigel (Rick's mom), Mark Moore, Margaret Steimling (Rick's Aunt), Marcia Romig, Beth and Dwight Greenberg, Matt and Allison Baird, Alycia and Eric Antheunisse, Katie Secor, Madden and Ronald Landis, and Mary Ellen LePage.
A rather large bird for an amazon, the St. Lucia parrot measures approximately 16-18 inches in length. The color of the wings are generally green with bright splashes of red on the carpel edge, but the most striking physical feature is the intense blue head color and splashes of red on the neck, wing edges and abdomen. In many ways it does resemble the Red-necked amazon (Amazona arusiaca) endemic to the island of Dominica, but the colors of versicolor are much more intense.
In the past three decades, the conservation of this species has been a major concern. In the early 90's, island populations were estimated to be as low as 200-250 birds. By mid-1990 due to intense education programs on the island, and real field work by the forestry division and non-profit organizations working in St. Lucia, the population was up to an estimated 300-500. During my latest visit to the island I spoke with the Assistant Chief Forest Officer, Mr. Lydon John. He informed me that the latest counts accomplished only recently estimate the island population to be over 1500 and probably closer to 2000.
The St. Lucia parrot prefers a mountainous habitat 500-900 meters in altitude but also forages in secondary growth (Juniper and Parr 1998). Like most amazon parrots, it nests in hollow trees. The breeding season appears to be February thru April or May. Apparently a governmentally approved captive breeding program for this species exists on the island and has been successful, fledging 19 individuals as of 1995 (Copsey 1995). But until very recently, the St. Lucia parrot did not exist in aviculture anywhere outside of its native island. There were a few individual representatives in zoo-type establishments in Europe, but no breeding successes were ever reported ex situ of the island. The species was like a rare jewel; it was desirable but not available.