Cuban Amazon

The Cuban Amazon is a medium-sized amazon parrot endemic to the Caribbean, occurring on Cuba and the Isle of Youth, in parts of the Bahamas, and on the Cayman Islands. It is the only amazon parrot native to these island groups.

Appearance

The body is mostly green with each feather narrowly edged in black, giving a scaled look. The forehead and area around the eye are white, the cheeks show a red patch that varies in extent by population, and the throat and upper breast carry a distinctive rosy-pink patch bordered below by blue-black. The primary flight feathers are blue, and the eye is surrounded by a pale eye-ring.

Populations differ subtly between islands: Cuban birds tend to show the most extensive red cheek color, while Bahamian and Cayman birds show reduced red and sometimes a more uniformly pale abdomen.

Key field marks

• White forehead and lores contrasting with green crown
• Rosy-pink throat and upper breast patch edged in blue-black below
• Red cheek patch, variable in size by population
• Green body plumage with black-edged (scaled) feathering
• Blue outer flight feathers, visible in flight

Similar species

No other amazon parrot occurs naturally within its Caribbean range, making the combination of white forehead and rosy throat patch essentially diagnostic. It is best separated from the smaller, slimmer Cuban Parakeet by its stockier build, short square tail, and direct heavy-bodied flight typical of amazon parrots.

Range

The Cuban Amazon is endemic to Cuba (including the Isle of Youth), the Bahamas (notably Great Abaco and Great Inagua), and the Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac). Each island population is treated as a distinct subspecies.

Habitat

It inhabits pine forests, broadleaf hardwood forest, palm savanna, and mangrove edges. On islands lacking large hollow-bearing trees, such as Abaco and Inagua, birds have adapted to nest underground.

Migration

The species is non-migratory and resident year-round within its island range, though birds may move locally in response to food availability.

Behavior

Cuban Amazons are social outside the breeding season, gathering in noisy flocks at fruiting trees and communal roosts. Flight is direct and powerful with steady wingbeats typical of amazon parrots.

Voice

Calls are loud, harsh, and squawking, typically given in flight or when flocks gather at dusk roosts.

Feeding

The diet consists of fruits, seeds, buds, and blossoms, including the fruit of the royal palm, a key food source across its range.

Nesting and breeding

Most populations nest in tree cavities, but the Bahamian population is unusual among amazon parrots for nesting underground in limestone solution holes, a response to the scarcity of large nesting trees on those islands. Clutches typically contain three to four eggs.