Justification This species has been uplisted to Endangered because recent population estimates from Brazil indicate that the global population is smaller than was previously thought; this very small population has suffered a rapid decline owing to extensive habitat loss and fragmentation, compounded by trade, and rapid declines are projected to continue. Further clarification is needed as to whether any Brazilian subpopulations exceed 250 individuals.

Family/Sub-family Psittacidae

Species name author (Kuhl, 1820)

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

Identification 30 cm. Colourful parrot. Bright green with dark edging to feathers, giving scaly effect. Narrow red forehead, lores and speculum. Pale bluish nape. Breast suffused vinous-maroon. Turquoise tinged primaries. Green tail with red base of outer-tail feathers. Pinky-red bill with yellower tip. Fledglings lack red on bill, but have same red forehead as adults. Similar spp. Red-browed Amazon A. rhodocorytha has blue in face and lacks lilac breast. Red-spectacled Amazon A. pretrei has more extensive red on head and wings. Voice High-pitched and nasal, warbled cráu or rac-rac, and hollow créu calls when perched.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

1,000-2,499

decreasing

106,000 km²

No

Range & population Amazona vinacea has become rare throughout its extensive range. In the early 1980s, Paraguay was considered the global stronghold, but all remaining subpopulations in Canindeyú, Alto Paraná, and Caaguazú number fewer than c.200 birds^{7,10, 11}. The Itaipú reserves and Reserva Natural Privada Itabó are key sites and the minimum remaining population in Paraguay has been estimated at 220 birds¹¹. There are no recent records from Caazapá or Concepción, and it has probably been extirpated in Amambay (where its historical occurrence is doubtful), Itapúa and Guairá. It is perhaps most common in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná (several populations of more than 100 birds), southern Brazil, and low numbers persist in Minas Gerais and São Paulo, within an estimated national total of 1,500-2,000 birds¹⁸. It was possibly never common, and must be close to extinction in Bahia, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. In Argentina, few populations remain in Misiones, and the species's stronghold is the mosaic of small farms and forest remnants between San Pedro and Santa Rosa (San Pedro Important Bird Area)¹⁶, with two small additional populations near Campo Viera and Bernardo de Yrigoyen¹¹. A recent census (2007) yielded a minimum of 253 individuals in Argentina¹².

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

Ecology: It inhabits lowland and highland Atlantic forest up to 2,000 m, and ecotones between this forest and grasslands (southern Misiones) and cerrado (Paraguay). There is a strong association with Araucaria angustifolia in Rio Grande do Sul and some correlation in the historical distributions of bird and tree, but Amazona vinacea was distributed throughout eastern Paraguay and southern and western Misiones, Argentina, where there has been no Araucaria angustifolia in historic times, and many other food sources are utilised, including seeds of many native and exotic species, even in areas with Araucaria forest, ^6,7,11. It nests from September to January in cavities in various tree species¹¹. Significant movements may occur in Brazil, possibly dictated by intra- and inter-year variations in Araucaria cone-crop production, but these do not affect the Argentinian or Paraguayan populations. During the breeding season, it is found in pairs or small groups (probably non-reproductive individuals); after the breeding season (February to July), the species congregates in large groups and roosts communally¹⁷.

Threats In 1984-1991, 38% of Paraguay's Atlantic forests disappeared⁵, and range contractions in Brazil presumably result from similarly extensive deforestation. There is some correlation with the disappearance of Araucaria forest e.g. in Paraná, 73,780 km² of Araucaria forest was reduced to 15,932 km² in 1965⁴. Selective logging, colonisation and plantation agriculture threaten remaining forests². However, in Argentina, Amazona vinacea has disappeared from large forest reserves (e.g. the 1,500 km² Iguazú-Urugua-í forest complex), remaining mostly in the mosaic of small farms and degraded forest remnants between San Pedro and Santa Rosa. There, where the wild population numbers approximately 200 individuals, 40 individuals were found in captivity in 35 homes between 2003 and 2005¹¹. In 2006 and 2007, from twelve nests identified in this area, only one chick fledged; at least three nests were depredated, at least two were flooded during storms, and at three nests the chicks were captured for sale to Brazil¹⁵. In the anthropogenic habitat that A. vinacea selects in Argentina, there appear to be few appropriate nest cavities, and most nests are in large, shallow, cavities which are easily depredated or flooded during storms¹⁵. Furthermore, the species appears to be very conservative in selecting nest sites, returning year after year to cavities that continually fail¹⁵. Competition with other hole nesting animals may also be important: in the above mentioned nests in Argentina in 2007, A. vinacea apparently lost competitions for nest cavities with exotic honeybees, possums, and several species of hole-nesting birds, apparently during the incubation stage¹⁵. Internal trade has probably affected Brazilian and Argentine populations, and one massive bird-smuggling operation was centred in Paraguay and included A. vinacea³. The species was also shot as a crop pest in certain areas^13,14, but this does not appear to be an important threat currently¹¹.

Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix I and II and protected under Brazilian law. Small populations occur in numerous protected areas^8,10. In Argentina, two small provincial parks are used by the species, but offer only partial protection because the parrots use habitat outside of the parks for most parts of their life cycle, including, critically, reproduction. In the species' Argentine stronghold between San Pedro and Santa Rosa, environmental education is underway to reduce capture of chicks, and the population has been monitored since 2005 ¹⁵.

Conservation measures proposed Monitor large populations (in March in Argentina). Study reproductive biology and demography throughout the species's distribution. Protect General Carneiro (Santa Catarina), Itaipú (Alto Paraná), RNP Itabó Rivas (Canindeyú), Estancia Golondrina (Caaguazú) and forest outside reserves in Rio de Janeiro⁹ and between San Pedro and Santa Rosa in Misiones. Invest in permanent trained rangers and resolve land tenure problems in Brazilian and Paraguayan reserves^8,11. Enforce anti-trafficking laws on roads connecting Monte Pascoal National Park to south Brazil⁹, at sites where the species is captured, and on the borders and ports of Paraguay and Argentina. Raise local public awareness to curtail nest-robbing and promote conservation of nest sites. In Argentina, provide technical support to promote soil conservation, to avoid clearing of forest for crops on small-holder farms.

References Collar et al. (1992). 1. J. C. Chebez in litt. (1999). 2. Dinerstein et al. (1995). 3. Endangered Species Bull. (1995) 20(2):7. 4. Hueck (1978). 5. Huespe Fatecha et al. (1994). 6. Juniper and Parr (1998). 7. Lowen et al. (1996). 8. F. Olmos in litt. (1999). 9. Snyder et al. (2000). 10. Wege and Long (1995). 11. Cockle et al. (2007). 12. Fariña et al. in press. 13. White (1882). 14. Chebez (1992). 15. Proyecto Selva de Pino Paraná in litt. (2007). 16. Bodrati et al. (2005). 17. K. Cockle, A. Bodrati, N. Fariña and J. Segovia in litt. (2007). 18. G. A. Bencke and A. E. Rupp in litt. (2009).

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), Juan Mazar Barnett (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Contributors G.A Bencke, Alejandro Bodrati, J. C. Chebez (Massey University), Kristina Cockle, Andre De Luca (SAVE Brasil), Nestor Fariña, Fabio Olmos, Nelson Pérez, Adrian Eisen Rupp, José Segovia

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

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Amazona vinacea. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

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.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

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