ABOUT

Cuban Amazon Research

Status:
Past
A wild Cuban Amazon feeds in a tree
© Dave Curtis [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr
Collaborators/Funders:

Canadian World Parrot Trust, local organisations, Bahamian government, US Fish and Wildlife Service

View Species Profile

The Cuban Amazon (Amazona leucocephala) is losing ground due to the loss of its habitat and the wildlife trade.

The WPT funded several studies/actions for this species, including population surveys, threat assessments, behavioural studies and uncovering data on severe weather effects on populations.

From 1990 to 2004 several studies were carried out on the two subspecies, noting population numbers, assessing threats to survival, and gathering ecological and behavioural information crucial to their conservation. The Canadian World Parrot Trust aided researchers by asking WPT members for donations of much-needed items, such as 4×4 vehicles and other necessities. The WPT also funded a census in 2007 to determine the number of Bahamas Parrots on the island of Abaco.  Populations had declined due to recent hurricane activity.

Beginning in 2015, the WPT supported a new project focussed on surveying populations and initiating a nest box program to aid the recovery of the species.

Status: IUCN Near Threatened / CITES Appendix I

Population:  Fewer than 10,000

Range: A.l. leucocephala: E and C Cuba.
A.l. palmarum: Isla de la Juventud and W Cuba, east to Villa Clara province.
A.l. caymanensis: Grand Cayman Island.
A.l. hesterna: Cayman Brac and formerly Little Cayman Islands.
A.l. bahamensis: Great Inagua and Abaco, in Bahama Islands; formerly on other islands in the Bahamas.

Natural history:  The Cuban Amazon is found in pine forests, broadleaved woodland, palm groves, mangroves, plantations, and cultivated land with trees and gardens up to 1000 m (3280 ft).  Its diet includes leaf buds, cones, tender shoots, fruit and seeds and sometimes cultivated crops. Small groups forage for these foods with bigger groups gathering where food is abundant.  Birds roost communally.