Red-spectacled Amazon (Amazona pretrei) - BirdLife species factsheet

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VU	Red-spectacled Amazon Amazona pretrei

2010 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Vulnerable

Justification The combination of a comparison of population estimates in 1971 and 1997, and deforestation rates over the same period suggest that the species has declined rapidly, qualifying the species as Vulnerable. The ongoing threats of habitat loss and trapping suggest that this decline is likely to continue.

Family/Sub-family Psittacidae

Species name author (Temminck, 1830)

Taxonomic source(s) SACC (2005 + updates), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996)

Identification 32 cm. Bright, green-and-red parrot. Green throughout with dark, scaly effect. Variable amount of red on forehead, lores and around eyes. Some sparse red spots on head. White periocular. Extensive red carpal area, sometimes partly concealed by other feathers. Blue tips to secondaries and primaries. Pale yellowish bill. Immature has less red on head. Similar spp. Vinaceous Amazon A. vinacea has less red on head and none at carpal joint. Pileated Parrot Pionopsitta pileata is much smaller with no red in wing. Voice Piercing, high-pitched screeches but also lower, hoarse caw caw keeu keeu and repeated hee-o hee-o hee-o.

Population estimate	Population trend	Range estimate (breeding/resident)	Country endemic?
16,000	decreasing	10,400 km²	No

Range & population Amazona pretrei breeds in Rio Grande do Sul, south Brazil, with main populations in the Campo de Cima da Serra, Planalto Médio, Depressão Central, Serra do Sudeste and Alto Uruguai⁴. Southern (and perhaps northern) breeders move north in the austral winter. Most of the wintering population formerly roosted at Aracuri but, since 1991, there has been a shift to south-east Santa Catarina⁵. In 1994, there were 15 roost sites in use seasonally, but large roosts at Aracuri and Rincão dos Pereira had disappeared. There has been a startling population decline since the 1950s. In 1971, the Aracuri roost was c.30,000 individuals, but more recent estimates of the total population are 7,500-8,500 individuals in the early 1990s, c.10,000 in 1994, c.12,600 in 1996 and c.16,300 in 1997⁵. Elsewhere, there is an erroneous 19th century specimen from São Paulo⁷. Wandering birds occur in Argentina and Paraguay, but there are only three recent records^1,2,3.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It breeds in open savanna woodland and riverine forest below 1,000 m, with tree-hollow nests recorded in over 30 tree species⁴. Breeding occurs in late September-January, with young generally fledging by late December. There is a stronger non-breeding season association with Araucaria angustifolia, but there are roosts in Acacia and Eucalyptus plantations. The diet includes seeds of A. angustifolia (especially important May-August) and Podocarpus lamberti (important January-February in some areas), but also fruit, seeds or flowers of 25 tree species.

Threats In 1914, 25% of Rio Grande do Sul was forested but, by 1988, this was less than 3% as a result of cutting for timber, building materials and fuelwood, over-exploitation of other forest products (notably Araucaria seeds, which possibly explains shifts to Santa Catarina⁵), intense grazing and livestock trampling. There is an organised internal trade, with parrots usually taken by cutting the nesting-tree, resulting in permanent abandonment.

Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix I and II and protected under Brazilian law. There are breeding populations in five reserves and two austral winter feeding sites are protected⁶. Artificial nests have been provided but not occupied⁵. A public awareness campaign has been in progress since 1991^4,5.

Conservation measures proposed Carry out surveys to obtain an up-to-date population estimate. Conduct regular surveys to assess population trends. Study current levels of off-take for trade. Monitor rates of habitat loss and degradation. Protect breeding areas in Caçapava do Sul and Santana da Boa Vista. Improve protected-area management. Enforce the law against collectors and, especially, dealers by searching vehicles in December-February⁴. Continue the awareness campaign.

References Collar et al. (1992). Varty et al. (1994). 1. Brooks et al. (1993). 2. Chebez et al. (1998). 3. Lowen et al. (1996). 4. Prestes et al. (1997). 5. Snyder et al. (2000). 6. Wege and Long (1995). 7. C. Yamashita in litt. (2000).

Further web sources of information

Fully detailed species account from the Threatened birds of the Americas: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 1992). Please note, taxonomic treatment and IUCN Red List category may have changed since publication.

Recuento detallado de la especie tomado del libro Aves Amenazadas de las Americas, Libro Rojo de BirdLife International (BirdLife International 1992). Nota: la taxonomoía y la categoría de la Lista Roja de la UICN pudo haber cambiado desde esta publicación.

Text account compilers Marcus Babarskas (BirdLife International), Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), David Capper (BirdLife International), Rob P Clay (BirdLife International), Juan Mazar Barnett (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Contributors Carlos Yamashita

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Amazona pretrei. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/7/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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