The red-spectacled amazon (''Amazona pretrei'') is a species of

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...

in the family

Psittacidae The family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the roughly 10 species of subfamily Psittacinae (the Old World or Afrotropical parrots) and 157 of subfamily Arinae (the New World or Neotropic ...

. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

subtropical or tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

, subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

, dry

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

, and

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. The Red-spectacled Amazon migrates seasonally from the northern region of the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

to the south-eastern state of Santa Catarina to feed on the mass-produced seeds of the Brazilian Pine. The species is distributed in the area of the frontier between southern

Corrientes province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; gn, Taragui), officially the Province of Corrientes ( es, Provincia de Corrientes; gn, Taragüí Tetãmini) is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (fr ...

in Argentina and the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. They are a quiet species with a relaxed disposition.

Description

Amazona pretrei -Rio Grande do Sul -Brazil-8

The red-spectacled amazon is long. It is mostly green with some sparse red spots on head, variable extent of red on forehead, lores and around eyes, white eyerings, red on the bend of the wings with blue tips to secondaries and primaries and yellowish bill. Females have less red on the bend of the wing. Diet: 90 percent of the Red-spectacled amazon's diet that inhabits the wild contains Angustifolia seeds, those in captivity, their diets consist of vegetables along with Araucaria seeds.

Conservation and threats

The red-spectacled amazon is a declining species as it is highly threatened by the destruction of the Aruacaria moist forests and the illegal exotic

pet trade Wildlife trade refers to the of products that are derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, ti ...

. An analysis of the extinct ''Amazona pretrei'' population records reveals that the species disappeared due to severe habitat loss, and in the past, the parrot's geographical range was at least 10% larger than the current range. The red-spectacled amazon is prized for its colorful feathers, mimicry ability, exotic appeal, and relative rarity, so eggs and live parrots are frequently smuggled from the wild and bred in captivity. It is estimated that nearly 500 chicks are stolen from their nests and sold in Brazilian cities every year.

References

red-spectacled amazon The red-spectacled amazon (''Amazona pretrei'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowla ...

Birds of the South Region Vulnerable animals Vulnerable biota of South America

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Species endangered by the pet trade Taxa named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck Birds of the Atlantic Forest {{parrot-stub