Festive Amazon
The Festive Amazon (Amazona festiva), also known as the Festive Parrot, is a species of parrot in the Psittacidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. It is associated with forest (especially Várzea) and woodland growing near major rivers. Locally it is also found in coastal mangroves (primarily in Amapá). There are two subspecies; A. f. festiva and A. f. bodini.
Description
The subspecies bodini has more red to the forecrown and more blue to the face than the nominate. In flight, both subspecies show deep blue outer wings (outer webs of the primaries and the primary coverts) and a red rump, but the latter is reduced in juveniles.
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| Festive Amazon |
image source: http://flickr.com/photos/22542564@N07
Taxonomy
There are two subspecies:
- Amazona festiva (Linnaeus) 1758
- Amazona festiva bodini (Finsch) 1873 - common name Bodinus' Amazon
- Amazona festiva festiva (Linnaeus) 1758 - common name Festive Amazon
The nominate subspecies is found near rivers in the Amazon Basin, while the subspecies bodini, is found near the Orinoco River.
Status
Although it has declined locally, it remains fairly common throughout a large part of its range and can even be seen near cities such as Manaus and Iquitos. Consequently, it was considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International and IUCN, though it was uplisted to vulnerable in 2012, due to models of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest and its suspectibility to hunting, which predicts that the population will decline rapidly over the next three generations.
