Cuban Amazon

Taxonomy conform IOC World Bird List

Distribution

• North America : Cuba, Bahamas and Cayman Is.

Subspecies

• A. l. bahamensis - Bahamas
• A. l. leucocephala - Cuba and Isle of Pines
• A. l. caymanensis - Grand Cayman I.
• A. l. hesterna - Cayman Brac I.

IUCN

Status

Near Threatened

General

This species is classified as Near Threatened because it is suspected to have undergone a population reduction in Cuba, which has not ceased, owing mainly to trapping and destruction of nest sites.

Habitat

It inhabits different habitats on different islands. In Cuba it inhabits dense woodland, in the Bahamas, native broadleaf and pine woodlands, and in the Cayman Islands (to UK), dry forest on the ridge-top plateau and nearby agricultural land (Bond 1979, King 1981, Sibley and Monroe 1990). The population on Abaco is particularly interesting because it nests in natural holes in limestone substrate on the ground (O'Brien et al. 2006). There, chicks and adults are completely insulated from the frequent fires required by their fire-dependent pine forest habitat (O'Brien et al. 2006). Birds move to native broadleaf forests to feed on berries during the non-breeding season (Stahala and Stafford 2004).

© IUCN