What’s Up with the Blue-fronted Amazon in Argentina?

Abstract

The Blue-fronted Amazon is found in several South American countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. In Argentina it is one of 28 species of parrots and one of four Amazon species, which include the T ucaman Amazon (A. tucamana), the Red-spectacled Amazon (A. pretrei) and the Vinaceous Amazon (A. vinacea).

The Blue-fronted Amazon is still widely distributed in the northern part of the country, although its numbers have markedly declined in many years, primarily in the Chaco region. It ranges from Jujuy, Salta, Formosa, and Misiones to Cordoba, Santa Fe and Corrientes. It is still common in the basal forest of Salta and Jujuy, and fairly common to uncommon in the remaining areas. Much of this area is referred to as the "Impenetrable Forest" where the breeding pair of Blue-fronted Amazons choose to nest.

The Blue-fronted Amazon found in Argentina is the sub-species (Amazona aestiva xanthopteryx) exhibiting much yellow on the face and head, especially males, and on the bend of the wings as compared to the nominate species (A. aestiva aestiva) with little yellow on the head, if any, and which has at the bend of the wings red or mainly red and is a slightly smaller bird.

My interest in the Blue-fronted Amazons from Argentina is two-fold: Amazons are my favorite companion species and "Lola", my domestically-bred Blue-fronted Amazon, purchased at a great bird store located in Northern Virginia, D.J. Feathers, is climbing all over her cage and encouraging me to simultaneously, write this article, and watch her attention-grabbing antics. The overriding reason for my interest, however, is that Argentina is one of the last countries in the world still...