On today’s show we learn about the Lilacine Amazon, a critically endangered parrot native to South America, specifically southwestern Ecuador, near the Pacific Coast.
For more information about Lilacine Amazon and Ecuadorian conservation, see the Fundación Jocotoco at https://jocotoco.org/
Rough Transcript
Intro 00:05
Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.
On today’s show we consider the Lilacine Amazon.
Species Information 02:05
The Lilacine Amazon is a critically endangered parrot native to South America, specifically southwestern Ecuador, near the Pacific Coast.
The Lilacine Amazon is an avian species (a bird) in the Psittaciformes order (that’s parrots), and its scientific name is Amazona lilacina.
It is considered small for a parrot in its genus, generally measuring about a foot in length from beak to tailfeather, and weighing just under a pound.
Their plumage is a soft warm green, with a bright red coloration on the forehead and between their eyes extending up to their crown (the top of the head) where it shifts into bluish-purple-ish tone. Their cheeks are a bright yellow-green with a pale-yellowish-white around their eyes. Their primary flight feathers are green with blue-ish tips. The secondary feathers are green with some patches of red. Their tail feathers are also green.
They have a strong hooked dark grey black beak, made of keratin (like human fingernails). At the top of the upper beak are two small nostrils near their forehead.
The Lilacine Amazon has brown eyes, with a black pupil, positioned on the sides of their head, providing a nearly 360 degree field of vision. Parrots have excellent vision, with proportionally large eyes, and four types of cone cells in their retina, compared to three in humans. This allows them to see ultraviolet light and a wider spectrum of colors. There is likely a connection between their super vibrant plumage and their highly tuned eyesight, their bright colorations, likely playing a role in mate selection or other social signaling.
They have small ear openings behind and slightly below their eyes, covered by specialized ear coverts, this is a layer of feathers to protect the ear opening. Parrots also have exceptional hearing. Their auditory organs are particularly attuned to frequencies in the range of their vocalizations and they have high auditory cognition, resulting in acute discernment. Meaning they can hear, and their brain can recognize, small variations in frequency. An obvious example of this is the ability of some parrots to mimic human speech, which is only possible because of their fine tuned hearing.
The main body of the Lilacine Amazon is covered by contour feathers, which overlap like shingles. Beneath the contour feathers are soft, fluffy down feathers, which provide insulation and powder down feathers, which grow continuously and continuously fragment into a fine keratin dust that aids in waterproofing and acts as a natural cleaning agent.
Their chest holds strong pectoral muscles, which power the downstroke of their wings during flight, and supracoracoideus muscles which attach to tendons in a kind of like pulley system to raise the wings during upstrokes.
I was surprised and delighted to learn that the skeletal structure of the wing is not unlike human arms and hands. The upper wing is a ball-and-socket Humerus bone that fits into the shoulder, then two forewing bones: the radius and the ulna and then the carpometacarpus a fused bone structure analogous to the human wrist and hand. Both primary and secondary flight feathers attach directly to these bones providing the structural integrity necessary to withstand force generated during flight.
The legs of the Lilacine Amazon are adapted for perching and climbing. Their feet are zygodactyl, meaning they have two toes pointed forward and two toes pointed backward, to grip branches and manipulate food; there are claws at the tip of each toe.
They have long, stiff tail feathers in an overlapping, fan-like shape used for steering, braking, and providing lift, especially during takeoff and landing.
Then below is the vent, the external opening to the cloaca, a chamber for the urinary, reproductive and digestive tracts.
The Lilacine Amazon is an arboreal forager, gathering food by moving through the forest canopy, eating fruits, nuts, berries and seeds, including mango, spanish plum, fig, and the buds and flowers and seeds of the Kapok tree, the Mountain Cotton, and the Balsa. In habitats encroached upon by human development, Lilacine Amazon have been observed eating coffee beans and cultivated fruits.
The Lilacine Amazon forages in flocks. Scientists use the term “gregarious” to describe this behavior. Species that actively form groups, to communicate, share foraging information, and protect against predators are considered gregarious.
The Lilacine Amazon exhibits a complex of social structures. They form large flocks at these daytime forage sites, and again at nighttime communal roosting sites. Within the larger group, they form smaller multi-family flocks during daytime flying, forage-seeking and roosting. They form family units of 3-5 individuals while chicks are young, and form longterm monogamous pair bonds for mating.
The Lilacine Amazon is often described as gentle and timid. It avoids confrontation with intruders, seeking cover if in danger. That said, it is a very vocal communicator using a diversity of complex calls and soundings to share information, reinforce social bonds, and alert the flock to threats. Let’s take a listen. These are two recordings made by Karl Berg in the Cerro Blanco Nature Reserve in Ecuador
[PARROT CALLS]
————
In the dream
I am learning a new language and delighting in the work, how it tickles neuropathways, how it makes unlikely poetries. And too, I’m feeling a bit of pride, a little smug, I am getting this, I’m feeling flow, there’s music on my lips and I make meaning from what once was impenetrable noise.
Would you like some fruit / ¿Quieres algo de fruta? / Tu voudrais des fruits / wha-ah-ah-ah wha-ah-ah-ah ooh
The sea is very beautiful / el mar es muy hermoso / La mer est tres belle / ooh-ah ooh-ah ooh-ah ooh-ah
“Go again” my teacher nods and I repeat
The sea very beautiful / el mar es muy hermoso / Ta mere est tres bete / ooh-ah-ah ooh-ah-ah ooh-ah-ah
And with that my tiny teacher pecks my hands and flies off. I have, unwittingly, called his mother foolish.
In the dream.
————
As mentioned, the Lilacine Amazon form longterm mating pair bonds. During breeding season, roughly December-April, pair bonds will split off from the flock to seek and occupy nesting sites. They are obligate cavity nesters, meaning they rely exclusively on natural tree cavities for laying their eggs and raising their young. Nests have been found within the trunks and branches of species such as the pigío tree and the ceibo tree.
After successful mating, the female will lay a clutch of 1-4 eggs which she incubates for about 3 weeks. Young are born altricial, meaning they are underdeveloped at the time of hatching, and require parental care. During incubation and while the chicks are young, the male of the pair will consume additional food which he regurgitates to feed the mother and the young. The chicks fledge (leave the nest) after about 2 months and the family unit rejoins the flock.
The fledglings reach reproductive maturity at three or four years of age. And the Lilacine Amazon can live to approximately 20 to 30 years in the wild.
The Lilacine Amazon is native to South America, specifically in the southwest of Ecuador near the Pacific coast and the city of Guayaquil. There are believed to be three isolated subpopulations, one to the north, near Bahia de Caraquez and the Isla Corazon wildlife refuge. One near Guayaquil and the Cerro Blanco Nature Reserve, and one to the south in the El Oro province.
In all three locations, its habitat includes a nighttime roosting site in mangrove forests, and a daytime feeding site in nearby dry forests. Each morning at dawn the flock commutes to the dry forest, remaining throughout the day and returning at dusk to their mangrove roost. These sites are usually less than 10 miles apart, a roughly 25 minute journey for the parrot, each way.
Their mangrove forest roosts are found along the Pacific coast at the mouths of river systems and on near-coast islands. These are dense stands of mangrove trees, adapted to thrive in the intertidal zone where freshwater rivers mix with saltwater from the Pacific Ocean. This is a swampy, brackish environment with fluctuating water levels due to daily tidal cycles. The terrain is generally flat and low-lying, interconnected channels, estuaries, mudflats and tidal creeks that weave through the trees.
The tropical dry forests are a rolling and rocky terrain of coastal hills, low mountains, and ravines and valleys, many of which contain seasonal streams or small springs. Elevations range from near sea level up to approximately 1500 ft. The dominant vegetation is deciduous, and many trees shed their leaves during the dry season (so June to December), to conserve water. And then the landscape shifts to a lush green during the wet season (January to May). There are pockets of large trees like the Ceibo and the Balsa, interspersed with smaller growth, low trees, and shrubs.
Summer highs in this region average in the upper 80s°F and winter lows are in the low 70s°F. The contrast between the wet and dry season is stark. February, for example, will see 8 inches of rain, while August will only see less than an eighth of an inch. Annual average rainfall is roughly 40 inches.
The Lilacine Amazon shares its habitat with:
Ocelot, Grey-backed Hawk, Mantled Howler Monkey, Crab-Eating Raccoon, Pallas’s Long-Tongued Bat, Ebony, Red Mangrove, Blackish-Headed Spinetail, Ceibo, White Mangrove, Jeli Mangrove, Balsa, Mountain Cotton, Grey-Cheeked Parrotlet, Pale-Browed Tinamou, Great Green Macaw, Magnificent Frigatebird, Colorada, Green Iguana, Jaguar, Arboreal Tarantula, Palo Santo and many, many more.
Historically, severe deforestation, driven by agriculture, cattle ranching, logging and charcoal production has been a major threat to the coastal foliage that the Lilacine Amazon relies upon.
Today, continued habitat destruction and urban expansion is a contemporary threat. One of the Lilacine Amazon’s feeding sites is less than 5 miles from Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city of over 2.5 million people. And its flight path from its mangrove roosting site takes it through highly developed areas.
Human induced climate change is also a threat. Rising global temperatures, caused by the continued use of fossil fuels, is melting polar ice resulting in sea level rise. By the end of the 21st century the ocean waters at the Ecuadorian coast are expected to rise by about 2 feet, which would overrun the coastal mangrove forests the Lilacine Amazon calls home.
The Lilacine Amazon is also being poached for sale on the illegal exotic pet market. Their gorgeous plumage, their gentle demeanor, and their rarity, make them an attractive companion animal. And while Ecuador has robust laws against wildlife trafficking, blackmarket animal trade is a complex and powerful network, and enforcement is often hampered by a lack of resources.
Fortunately much of the Lilacine Amazon’s habitat falls on protected lands, like the El Salado Mangrove Reserve, the Isla Corazon wildlife refuge, the Cerro Blanco Nature Reserve. The non-governmental org Fundación Jocotoco is actively purchasing and protecting new land, having established the Las Balsas Reserve to protect parrot roosting and nesting sites. Having identified a reduction of favorable nesting cavities, due to wildfire, they have initiated nestbox program, where conservationist are building and installing wooden nestboxes in the park; and they have observed Lilacine Amazon pairs using the artificial nest.
Fundación Jocotoco is also leading community engagement and education programs in an effort to curb poaching. Trade in the species is illegal both nationally and internationally, though as mentioned, enforcement has proven challenging.
The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria manages an off-site captive breeding program with individuals across 24 global institutions.
Nevertheless the Lilacine Amazon has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2020 and their population is currently in decline.
Our most recent counts estimate that less than 2500 Lilacine Amazon remain in the wild.
Citations 30:15
Information for today’s show about the Lilacine Amazon was compiled from:
American Bird Conservancy – https://abcbirds.org/bird/lilacine-amazon/
Biddle, R (2021). “The conservation and ecology of a newly described Amazon parrot; Amazona lilacina.” Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University in collaboration with The North of England Zoological Society. – https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/628526
BirdLife International (2020). “Species factsheet: Lilacine Amazon Amazona lilacina.” – https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lilacine-amazon-amazona-lilacina
In Birds of the World (B. K. Keeney, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. – Collar, N., J. del Hoyo, P. F. D. Boesman, G. M. Kirwan, and C. J. Sharpe (2022). “Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis), version 1.1.” – https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.relpar.01.1
Diversity 13, no. 1: 15. Biddle, Rebecca, Ivette Solis-Ponce, Martin Jones, Mark Pilgrim, and Stuart Marsden. 2021. “Parrot Ownership and Capture in Coastal Ecuador: Developing a Trapping Pressure Index” – https://doi.org/10.3390/d13010015
EAZA Best Practice Guidelines for Ecuadorian Amazon Parrot (Amazona lilacina) -1st Edition. Pilgrim, M & Biddle, B. (2016). European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.61024/BPG2016EcuadorianAmazonParrotEN
Field recording from Xeno-Canto, Karl Berg, XC282424. – https://www.xeno-canto.org/282424
Field recording from Xeno-Canto, Karl Berg, XC282426. – https://www.xeno-canto.org/282426
International Zoo Yearbook, 37, 195–202. Pilgrim, M. (2000). “Development of the European endangered species Programme (EEP) for the Ecuadorian or Lilacine amazon.” – https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.2000.tb00723.x
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T22728296A181432250. BirdLife International. 2020. “Amazona lilacina.” – https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22728296A181432250.en
Manual of Parrot Behavior. Graham, Jennifer & Wright, Timothy & Dooling, Robert & Korbel, Ruediger. (2008). “Sensory Capacities of Parrots.” – https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470344651.ch4
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilacine_amazon
For more information about Lilacine Amazon and Ecuadorian conservation, see the Fundación Jocotoco at https://jocotoco.org/
Music 31:59
Pledge 38:12
I honor the lifeforce of the Lilacine Amazon. I will commit its name to my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species. I grieve.
And so, in the name of the Lilacine Amazon I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant and animal kin and their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.
I forever pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.
