Cuban Amazon
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{{Taxobox
| name = Cuban Parrot
| status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Amazona leucocephala -in tree-4cp.jpg
| image_width = 225px
| image_caption = Wild parrot in [[Cuba]]
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[Parrot|Psittaciformes]]
| familia = [[True parrots|Psittacidae]]
| genus = ''[[Amazon parrot|Amazona]]''
| species = '''''A. leucocephala'''''
| binomial = ''Amazona leucocephala''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
}}
The '''Cuban Parrot''', ''Amazona leucocephala'', also known as '''Cuban Amazon''' or the '''Rose-throated Parrot''', is a medium-sized green parrot found in woodlands and dry forests of [[Cuba]], the [[Bahamas]] and [[Cayman Islands]] in [[Caribbean]].<ref name = SCSCB>{{cite web |url =http://www.scscb.org/working_groups/Actions/bird_Dec_06_Rose-throated_Parrot.htm |publisher = Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) |title = Rose-throated Parrot (Amazona leucocephala) |month = December |year = 2006}}</ref><ref name = IUCN2006/>
==Description==
The Cuban Parrot is a medium sized parrot 28–33 cm (11–13 in) long. It is mainly green and has some blue feathers in its wings. Its chin, throat and lower face are pinkish and its forehead and eyerings are white. The colours of the head vary between the populations on different islands and between subspecies.<ref name = SCSCB/> Its beak is horn coloured and the feathers over the ears are blackish. The abdomen of the adult is dull red. The juvenile has little or no red on the abdomen and less pink on the chin and face.
==Taxonomy==
There are five subspecies of the Cuban Parrot:
* ''A. l. leucocephala'', present throughout [[Cuba]] and the [[Isla de la Juventud|Isle of Pines]]
* ''A. l. palmarum'', western Cuba and Isle of Pines
* ''A. l. bahamensis'', two populations in the [[Bahamas]]; one on the [[Abaco Islands]] and one on [[Great Inagua]]
* ''[[Grand Cayman Parrot|A. l. caymanensis]]'', [[Grand Cayman]] Island
* ''A. l. hesterna'', [[Cayman Brac]] and on the [[Cayman Islands]]
==Behaviour==
[[Image:Cuba Parrot.jpg|upright|left|thumb|Side of head and upper body]]
In the winter Cuban Parrots gather in flocks, and in the breeding season they disperse into pairs.<ref name = SCSCB/>
===Food and feeding===
The Cuban Parrot feeds on a number of fruits and seeds including the fruits of palm trees and mahogany seeds.<ref name = SCSCB/>
===Breeding===
The breeding season is from March to September. Cuban Parrots nest in treeholes throughout most of its range, the only exception being that the parrots living on the Abaco Islands nest in limestone burrows. Two to four white eggs are laid, which are [[avian incubation|incubated]] by the female for 26–28 days.<ref name = SCSCB/>
==Status==
Due to ongoing habitat lost, occasional natural disasters and hunted in some areas, the Cuban Parrot is evaluated as Near Threatened on the [[IUCN Red List]] of Threatened Species.<ref name = IUCN2006>{{IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=1058|title=Amazona leucocephala|downloaded=11 May 2006}} Database entry includes a range map and a brief justification of why this species is near threatened.</ref> It is protected with a listing on Appendix I and II of [[CITES]], which declares that taking parrots from the wild is illegal and prohibits trade of wild-court parrots.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons|Amazona leucocephala}}
* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=1660&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
* [http://www.redlist.org/search/details.php?species=1058 IUCN Red List]
* [http://www.parrotclub.sk/part/org/Amazona_leucocephala.jpg Cuban Parrot]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQSfvJajeC4 Cuban Parrot Video in Zapata Swamp,Cuba]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuban Parrot}}
[[Category:Amazon parrots]]
[[Category:Parrots]]
[[Category:Birds of the Bahamas]]
[[Category:Birds of the Cayman Islands]]
[[Category:Birds of Cuba]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Isle of Youth]]
[[de:Kuba-Amazone]]
[[es:Amazona leucocephala]]
[[fr:Amazone de Cuba]]
[[it:Amazona leucocephala]]
[[lt:Kubinė amazonė]]
[[hu:Kubai fehérfejű amazon]]
[[ru:Кубинский амазон]]
[[uk:Кубинський амазон]]