 | | |||||
Friends of the Environment Abaco, Bahamas | ||||||
 | | | | | | |
Habitat Of The Bahama Parrot | ||
| | |
 | ||||||
 | ||||||
 | ||||||
 | ||||||
 | ||||||
 | ||||||
| | | | | | |
The Bahama Amazon Parrot is found in the Abaco pine and broadleaf forest of the southern part of Great Abaco of the Bahamas. The Abaco population of the Bahama parrot is the only new world parrot that nests in sub-terrain rock cavities. Many of these nests have internal ledges or rocky overhangs to protect the eggs within. It is believed that this adaptation to ground nesting is due to the few holes found in Abaco’s trees. A clutch of 2-4 eggs are laid in late May or early June. Eggs hatch asynchronously 26-28 days after the female begins incubation. There is about a 46% failure hatch rate due increasing nest predators by feral (wild) cats- injuring or killing the females. The eggs and the chicks are sometimes eaten by large land crabs, snakes and feral raccoons or the nests are flooded due to heavy summer rains. While the female sits on the eggs, the male visits the nest 4-6 times a day to feed the female. Should the male die or abandon the female, she would be unable to raise the chicks alone and would probably desert the nest. Parents will return to the nest 5-7 times a day to feed the youngsters, spending considerable time in the area of the nest to watch and protect it. Staples to the parrots diet are seeds extracted from unripe cones of the Caribbean (Abaco) Pine and the fruits of poison wood, pigeon berry, wild guava and gumbo limbo. From Text By Rosemarie Gnam, Assn. For Parrot Conservation | ||||||||
 | ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| | | | | | | | |
 | ||||
| | | | |
Copyright 2004 Friends of the Environment. All Rights Reserved. Website designed by CocoMotion | ||||
| | | | |