Scientific name:
Amazona aestiva
Common name:
Called Turquoise-fronted Parrot in the ornithological literature .
Adult length:
14-15in ( 35-37cm ).
Adult weight:
375-500g .
Potential lifespan:
55 years .
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Origin:
Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina .
Suitability
Blue-fronts are vibrant, chatty and identical fine-looking. They have much more personality than …er, no ! I must not antagonise keepers of other species ! I love them ! however, there is a big BUT. Adult males often lose their homes because when they mature they can become very aggressive and bite identical hard, even flying at a person ‘ s face .
Inexperienced Amazon owners who want a companion in the home should buy only a young DNA-sexed female. Whether male or female, regular supervised periods outside the cage should be limited to no more than one or two hours at a clock time. Longer periods result in Amazons believing they own the place and attacking “ intruders ” when they are in breeding condition .
Identification
The head color of this species is highly variable. I recently visited a breeder who about stunned me into silence by telling me that his Blue-fronted Amazons were Orange-wings ! He believed this because they had little blue on the principal. note that even chicks can be distinguished before they have any feathers .
Blue-fronts have black beak ! The feather varies greatly according to the location in south american from which they originate .
Diet
Fruit, vegetables and cooked or intoxicate pulses ( beans and peas ) should comprise at least 40 % of the diet. The respite should consist of a dependable quality seed concoction ( with limit amounts of sunflower and preferably the peanuts removed for the violent birds ) or possibly pellets that do not contain artificial colours or season .
As with all Parrots, items of fresh food high in Vitamin A should be favoured. These include par-boiled carrot, loss bell pepper ( cooked or raw ), broccoli and fudge fresh potato. unharmed young plants of dandelion and inseminate thistle are identical valuable from spring to autumn and seeding dock is excellent during summer and early on fall. Hawthorn berries will be relished. Items from the mesa such as meat bones ( with no sharp edges ) and cooked potato are much relished, besides cube of hard cheese. Bones and cheese provide some calcium .
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Cages
A Blue-fronted Amazon will not be felicitous in a belittled cages. close up parturiency can lead to aggressive behavior. Either buy the largest cage you can afford or construct an oblong batting cage from 12g welded mesh topology. Make sure that the design allows food and water pots ( four in all ) to be serviced without a hand entering the batting cage. Adult males in breeding condition can be dangerous .
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Training
It is very important that basic commands such as “ Step up ! ”, “ Step toss off ” and “ Fly off ! ” are taught at an early age — the earlier the better. Blue-fronts can be very strong-minded ! These instructions should be reinforced on a daily footing .
Teaching to Imitate
Unlike Grey Parrots, for exemplar, a Blue-fronted Amazon can start to mimic at a very youthful age. Start with elementary phrases such as “ Come on ! ” Say “ Bye-bye ” only when you are going out and the Amazon will soon understand its mean. The Blue-front can become one of the most talented mimics in the Parrot global .
Plumage Care
Misting with a establish sprayer will cause an Amazon to ruffle its feathers and spread its wings in ecstasy, chortling or screaming with use. Heavy spray will be enjoyed by older birds or access to an aviary where rain-bathing can occur .
Wing-Clipping
Please don ’ t do it. I am not going to repeat this message in every article. ( See Grey Parrot article for some valid reasons. )
Illegal Trade
This Amazon ’ mho popularity, ascribable to its ability to mimic and its beautiful feather, means that removal of young from nests continues on an alarming scale. As an exercise, on September 19 2008, 225 Amazons Parrot chicks that had been hidden in boxes of vegetables were seized by police in the Pantanal region of Brazil after they received an anonymous call. All but 16 were Blue-fronted .
They were taken to a godforsaken animal rehabilitation center ( CRAS ) which then had a total of 400 impound chicks from that season ’ second nests. Although the chicks ’ eyes were overt or merely open ( two to three weeks old ), they looked stunted at the time of seizure .
deplorably, 53 died soon after. This larceny of young and adults from the wild has been illegal in Brazil for decades but continues not merely to supply the domestic demand but probably besides helps to supply the trade in wild-caught Blue-fronted Amazons in Argentina which is distillery legal. Captive-bred new are available in the UK. Make certain you obtain closed-ringed youthful birds from a breeder .
Breeding
I would appeal to breeders to pair together the lapp sub-species. ( For descriptions and photograph see my script Amazon Parrots, Aviculture, trade and conservation. ) These Amazons nest readily in the veracious circumstances ( good diet, suitable accommodation and compatible pair ). The trouble lies in acquiring a female .
If you have a breeding copulate please treat your female like amber dust. guarantee that she has the necessity calcium in her diet ( see Grey Parrot articl vitamin e ) to lay properly formed eggs. Every year female Blue-fronts die from egg-binding due to neglect of this vitally significant aspect.
The female lays three or four eggs – normally in May in the UK. Young spend about eight weeks in the nest. If hand-reared they will credibly be mugwump at 14 weeks. From this you can work out that young will be available around August or September. If you are offered young birds in say February, you will know they are death season ’ second young. Blue-fronted Amazons do not breed in winter in the UK .
Conservation
In 1997 Projecto Papagaio Verdadeiro commenced. Based at Caiman Lodge, its bearing is to manage and conserve the Blue-fronted Amazons of the Pantanal and the cerrado ( the term for dry forest of small trees and shrubs amidst savannah ). In that first year stick out members identified 27 nests and followed four young birds that had been fitted with radio transmitters .
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I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.