A pair of yellow-shouldered Amazon parrots, a vulnerable species declining in the wild, has arrived at DZG as part of a breeding programme.
It is the first time we have kept this species, and the green and yellow-coloured parrots are settling in well.
Yellow-shouldered Amazons are intelligent, inquisitive and assertive birds which are often exploited and sold to the pet trade, although they do not make good pets and end up being neglected in many cases.
Curator Matt Lewis said : “We were pleased to receive these birds from Paradise Wildlife Park in Hayle, Cornwall, as part of a breeding programme.
“They are a young pair, and will not breed for a couple of years yet; parrots have a very long lifespan and do not mature until they are five or six years old.
“They are currently sharing an aviary with Fred and Freda, our scarlet macaws, and they seem to be getting along well.”
Amazona Barbadensis are found in Northern Venezuela.
CAPTION: Keeper Luke Millar with one of the yellow-shouldered Amazon parrots that has transferred to DZG.