Lilacine Amazon (Amazona lilacina)

Lilacine Amazons, Chester Zoo
© Steve Wilson [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr

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Did You Know?

The Lilacine Amazon was once considered conspecific with the Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis).

Academic Research

Related publications: Amazona lilacina

Species Profile

Genus: Amazona | Species: lilacina

Size:

34cm (13.2 in)

Weight:

About 350g

Subspecies including nominate:

one

Colour Adult:

Both adults in general green, with black edging to feathers of crown to mantle and breast; red on forehead reaching over eye in a line; green crown to nape, becoming mauve/blue towards tips and edged with black. Cheeks yellow/green. Secondary feathers 1-5 red at bases, the remainder green; green tail, with side feathers red at bases. Eye ring pale yellow. Bill grey/black.

Colour Juvenile:

Duller than adults; red and mauve head markings less evident. Bill grey, paler at base of upper mandible. Eye brown.

Call:

Wide variety of sounds, some high-pitched, trilling; other calls loud, metallic and scolding; rippling and short notes also heard.

Listen Now

More Information:

Avibase
EAZA Best Practice Guide - Ecuadorian Amazon
Research: Conservation status of the recently-described Ecuadorian Amazon (Amazona lilacina)

Content Sources:

BirdLife International
Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Birds of the World
Lilacine Amazon EAZA Best Practice Guidelines
Lexicon of Parrots, Thomas Arndt.
Parrots of the World, Forshaw, 2006.
Vanished and Vanishing Parrots, Forshaw, 2017.
Parrots in Aviculture, Low, 1992.

Lilacine Amazons, Chester Zoo
© Steve Wilson [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr

Photos

View in Gallery

Did You Know?

The Lilacine Amazon was once considered conspecific with the Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis).

Academic Research

Related publications: Amazona lilacina

Species Care

Captive Status:

Uncommon

Longevity:

More than 35 yrs.

Housing:

Aviary or suspended cage with a minimum length 3m (9.8 ft).

Diet:

Fruit such as: apple, pear, orange, banana, cactus fruits, pomegranate, forming about 30 % of the diet; fresh vegetables such as: carrot, celery, green peas, beans, fresh corn, green leaves; spray millet and limited mixed seed, cooked beans and pulses, complete kibble.

Enrichment:

Enjoys bathing so provide overhead misters or shallow water bowls; foot toys, destructible (non-toxic) toys, non-destructible (non-toxic plastic) toys, food-finder toys, preening toys, different texture and size hanging perch toys, fir, pine, willow or elder branches, push-and-pull toys (sliding up and down), vegetable tanned leather toys.

Nest Box Size:

Vertical box, 12" x 12" x 24" (30.5cm x 30.5cm x 61cm).

Clutch Size:

1-2

Incubation Time:

About 26 days

Fledging Age:

8-9 weeks

Hatch Weight:

Not recorded.

Peak Weight:

Not recorded.

Weaning Weight:

Not recorded.

Lilacine Amazons, Chester Zoo
© Steve Wilson [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr

Photos

View in Gallery

Did You Know?

The Lilacine Amazon was once considered conspecific with the Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis).

Academic Research

Related publications: Amazona lilacina

Species Wild Status

World Population:

600-1700

IUCN Red List Status:

Critically Endangered

CITES Listing:

Not listed

Threat Summary:

Occurs widely but very sparsely on the Pacific slope of Ecuador. Overall the population is believed to have declined by 18-35% over a decade in the Puerto Hondo Mangrove area due to ongoing habitat destruction and unsustainable trapping.

Range:

Confined to western Ecuador, south to El Oro; may occur in SW Colombia.

Habitat:

Found in both coastal mangrove and dry tropical forest. Also can probably be seen in a variety of forest habitats, dry scrub and agricultural areas.

Wild Diet:

Eats fruits, buds, leaf shoots and seeds in the upper canopy. Fruit of muyuyo Corida lutea, Minquartia fruits, mangoes Mangifera indica and Spanish plums Spondias purpurea. At lower elevations coffee beans and cultivated fruits are also taken.

Ecology and Behaviour:

Nomadic; birds move from rainforest in breeding season to open areas in winter. Found in loose flocks or in pairs, are gregarious when feeding (often found with macaws). Roosts in mangroves and flies to dry forest every day to feed.

Clutch and Egg Size:

1-2 eggs

Breeding Season:

Reported to be January-March.

Photos

View in Gallery

Did You Know?

The Lilacine Amazon was once considered conspecific with the Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis).

Academic Research

Related publications: Amazona lilacina

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