Animal of the Week 5/31-6/6

I'm sorry that this is a little late guys. But here is the next animal of the week!

The Red Lored Amazon

To start things off, let's take a look at where these guys come from. Red lored amazons are native to Central and South America. They are actually one of the most common pet parrots in the US, but are considered endangered in some of their range. The biggest threat to them is being captured for the pet trade.

These guys like to nest in tree cavities, and lay 3-4 eggs in a clutch. These eggs are white, and are incubated for about 26 days. When hatchlings are taken from the nest for the pet trade, they are usually between a few hours to a few days old. If they are left in the nest, then they leave the nest to live on their own about 60 days after hatching.

They eat a variety of fruits and nuts, with seeds thrown in as well. In captivity, they also get fresh veggies and sometimes cooked beans as well.

These parrots can be quite noisy, and live for up to 75 years. Like most other parrots, they chew a lot as well. That means that if you get one of these birds as a pet, do not expect to have pristine wood furniture anymore. Or any pristine furniture, for that matter. You can also expect your clothing to get more holes, and some remodeling of your house via beak to be done as well.

They are also known as Yellow-Cheek amazons, but are only one among about 50 species of amazons. Christopher Columbus was the first one to call these guys amazons, which was the name of the bird he brought back from the New World.

Sources

• http://rosamondgiffordzoo.org/assets/uploads/animals/pdf/Red-loredAmazonParrot.pdf
• http://www.beautyofbirds.com/redloredamazon.html
• http://www.parrots.org/index.php/encyclopedia/wildstatus/red_lored_amazon/