
Dr. Ellen K. Rudolph
The Orange-winged Amazon
Scientific name: Amazona amazonica
|
|
|
Meet Marteen, Dr. Ellen's |
|
See a WOODCUT of Marteen by Dr. Ellen |
|
Conservation Information Orange-winged Amazons (Amazona amazonica) are one of the smaller Amazons from South America's Amazon basin. They are a gregarious parrot, moving from tree to tree in large flocks in search of ripe fruits and nuts.(1) Its plumage in the wild is emerald green. The crown is yellow with lores and above the eye there is a violet-blue region; cheeks are yellow. The edge of the wing is yellowish-green and primaries are green to violet-blue with black tips. The outer feathers are washed with orange-red.(2) There are over 50 species of the Amazona family. There is confusion, as a result, in telling the difference between species like the BLUE FRONTED (Amazona aestiva) and the ORANGE WINGED (Amazona amazonica) Amazon. Both have blue and yellow on and around the head and face and often Orange-wings are advertised for sale as blue-fronts. There are, however, differences between them and the most obvious is the color of the beak. The Blue-front has a black beak (top & bottom mandibles) while the Orange-wing has a horn-colored beak (often with darker streaks). Another fairly obvious difference (and hence the origin of the name Orange-wing) is that the feathers in the wing spectrum are orange in the Orange-wing but red in the Blue-Front. Orange-wings have a more even temperament in general than Blue-fronts.(2) Distribution: Venezuela, Colombia, Eastern Ecuador and Peru, Northern Bolivia, Brazil, French Guinea, Guyana and Suriname. The orange-winged is, in fact, the most numerous parrot of Suriname. They make a joyful noise (8) flying high overhead: Natural diet: Seeds, fruits, berries, flowers and nuts Length: 13 to 14 inches long (31-34cm) The Parrot Family The feet of parrots are also unusual. The two outer toes of the foot point backwards and grip in opposition to the two forward pointing inner toes, providing them with an extremely powerful grasp. It also enables them to hold and manipulate objects close to their bill. Most parrots are tree-dwellers and tend to be most plentiful in and around lowland tropical forests. They feed on fruits, especially wild figs, seed, nuts, berries, buds and blossoms. Life Expectancies of Parrots (4) Amazon Parrot - 50 to 60 years or more, with right diet and no stress Cockatiel - 15 to 20 years Cockatoo - up to 70 years Conure - 15 to 20 years Eclectus - 30 to 50 years Macaw - up to 80 years
Parrot Predators in the Wild According to Dr. Don Brightsmith of the Tambopata Macaw Project in southeastern Peru (5) : "In the rainforest the answer is whichever predator can catch them. Many mammals would undoubtedly eat an adult parrot if they could but I imagine that few ever get the chance." He goes on to say that the fact that most parrots are highly arboreal and spend most of their time in or flying above the tallest trees suggests that they rarely fall victim to mammalian predators. One mammal that that may be an effective predator of parrots is the False Vampire Bat (Vampyrum spectrum). This is the largest bat in the New World with a wingspan of nearly 3 ft. It flies by night and locates birds as they sleep. It then carries its prey back to its roost where it feeds. The book Tropical Nature by Forsyth and Miyata reports that a roost of this bat in Costa Rica contained the feathers of ". . . parrots and a host of other birds." As for non-flying mammals, Dr. Brightsmith has heard a second hand report of an adult Green-winged Macaw (Ara chloroptera) being captured by a Brown Capuchin Monkey as the macaw waited in the trees above a clay lick in Peru. It is much more common for parrots to fall prey to raptors.
Aviculture: A Booming Business Many species, in fact, were put at risk in the process and conservation bodies worldwide rigorously opposed the exploding traffic in exotic birds. The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES)(10) has, with organizations like TRAFFIC (11), worked diligently to try to reduce this threat to the survival of parrots in the wild. Still, there are those who are clearly not concerned about the welfare of birds and who continue to act illegally for profit. They serve to remind the rest of us that we must make a concerted effort to support aviary-bred parrots and to remove our support for wild-caught parrot operations small and large. As we speak, large numbers of parrots are still being exported from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Rainforest Preservation Foundation From them we learn some sobering facts: The world's rainforests are disappearing at an average rate of a football field every second, which translates to: 75 acres every minute The map below iillustrates the fact that only a tiny fraction of our planet's land mass, approximately 6%, is rainforest. What you can't see from this or any map is that 80% of all surface vegetation on earth is contained in these rainforests. Nor can you see from the map that 50% of the earth's oxygen is generated by these rainforests, and that 50% to 90% of all life forms on earth exist in these rainforests.
Problems of Orange-winged Amazons in Captivity *Feather picking of psychogenic origin has often been attributed to a captive environment lacking sufficient stimulation, particularly companionship and opportunities to forage. Improved feather condition is strongly related to an enriched environment *Parrots from an enriched environment showed decreased fearfulness when confronted with novel objects and humans. *Anecdotal evidence suggests that the companionship of another parrot may impact adversely on the individual bond between owners and their parrots. However, results from this study demonstrated that 57% of the birds housed singly developed stereotypic behaviours such as pacing and bar chewing, while paired birds exhibited none of these behaviours. All too often, it seems, people adopt parrots as pets and then loose interest in them, which ultimately leads to significant deterioration in the bird's caged behavior. Having a parrot as a pet requires a long-term commitment to meeting its most basic needs for healthy food, adequate space, sunlight, toys, and enduring, interactive companionship. Help us help the world's parrots! Pass this page along to interested others.
References 01 http://www.parrot-link.co.uk/amazone.htm 02 http://www.arndt-verlag.com/projekt/parse.cgi?Desc=E333.htm&Pic=333_1.JPG 03 http://www.honoluluzoo.org/amazon_parrots.htm 04 http://www.parrotchronicles.com 05 http://www.thewildconnection.org/aboutus.html 06 http://www.canadianparrottrust.org/manifesto.htm 07 http://www.800rainforest.org/ 08 http://webserv.nhl.nl/~ribot/english/amam_ng.htm 09 http://vein.library.usyd.edu.au/links/Essays/2003/perin-vale.html |
|
Conservation Links 12 Parrot Species that highlight the threats to all parrots CITIES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Tropical Rainforests: Their Wonders and the Perils They Face INFO ON SPECIFIC PARROT SPECIES The Internet Bird Collection: Research by species, geographical region, names The Complete Lixicon of Parrots: Amazons Amazona Phoenix Landing: Provides for parrots in need and acts as advocates for those without protection The World Parrot Refuge: Building a Home for Life |
| Home | Vitae | Essays | Galleries | Contact | Digital Tips | Travel | EKR | Willi |
| Australia | Provence | Suriname | Log Blog |
| This site is copyright-protected. The images, text and style of this site are licensed for viewing on your computer through your Internet browser during your visit. No rights to down load, save, copy, print, redistribute or use in any other manner or method are allowed or implied without the prior written consent of the copyright owner. Any unauthorized use of the images or literary content herein is a violation of federal and international copyright laws.
© Dr. Ellen K. Rudolph. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. |