# Orange-winged Parrot

Scientific name: Amazona amazonica

Bird group: [parrot](https://birdsofpuertorico.com/family/parrot)

Canonical source: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/bird/208/Orange-winged-Parrot

## Identification

The orange-winged amazon (Amazona amazonica), also known locally as orange-winged parrot and loro guaro, is a large  amazon parrot. It is a resident breeding bird in tropical South America, from Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil. Its habitat is forest and semi-open country. Although common, it is persecuted as an agricultural pest and by capture for the pet trade (over 66,000 captured from 1981 to 1985). It is also hunted as a food source. Introduced breeding populations have been reported in Puerto Rico and Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
The orange-winged amazon is a mainly green parrot about 33 cm (13 in) long and weighing about 340 g. It has blue and yellow feathers on its head which varies in extent between individuals. The upper mandible is partly horn colored (gray) and partly dark-gray. It has orange feathers in the wings and tail, which can be seen when in flight. The male and female are identical in external appearance.


## Distribution and habitat

The Orange-winged Parrot is native to central and northern 
South America, and to Trinidad 
and Tobago (Raffaele and 
others 1998). It is introduced on 
Martinique and Puerto Rico, in 
the latter being uncommon in 
the metropolitan area of San Juan 
where it occurs in small numbers 
(Raffaele and others 1998). More 
recently, it has been described 
as a self-sustaining population 
which has expanded is range 
from sites of original introduction 
(Falcón and Tremblay 2018). 
It usually inhabits lowland second-growth forests (Raffaele 
and others 1998). The atlas 
fieldwork yielded a total of nine 
records within seven hexagons 
or 1.5 percent of the 479 total 
hexagons (see map). Of the 
seven hexagons where this 
species was found, breeding 
met the atlas definition of 
confirmed in 14 percent (one) 
of the hexagons, probable in 
43 percent (three), and possible 
in 29 percent (two), while the 
species was observed in an 
additional hexagon (14 percent) 
but without evidence of breeding 
(see map). Orange-winged Parrot distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones 
in Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.      199Orange-winged Parrot/Cotorra Alianaranjada

## Breeding

The Orange-winged Parrots nest has not yet been found 
on Puerto Rico (Raffaele and 
others 1998). Atlas results suggest 
that this species breeds from 
December to March and also 
during June, July, and October 
(see chart). Results (see table 
and map) show that this species 
breeds primarily in the lowlands 
mostly within the subtropical 
moist forest life zone (83 percent 
of the hexagons) but also in the 
subtropical dry forest life zone 
(17 percent of the hexagons).

## Conservation

The current global population trend of the Orange-winged 
Parrot has not been quantified 
or assessed, but the species is 
described as fairly common 
(Stotz and others 1996). 
Nevertheless, the population is 
suspected to be in decline due 
to ongoing habitat destruction 
and hunting. It is currently listed 
as a species of least concern by 
the IUCN (BirdLife International 
2018). Sighting trends in Puerto 
Rico indicate that the introduced 
population is stable (Falcón and Tremblay 2018). Locally, 
this species is not listed in any 
of the threatened categories of 
PRDNER and USFWS. In Puerto 
Rico, the Orange-winged Parrot 
has a protected habitat in land 
of about 4 percent or 6 km2 of the total area covered by the 
hexagons where evidence of 
breeding was found for this 
species (143 km2).

Photo: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_208_Im0.png.webp

Distribution map: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_208_Im1.png.webp

Source note: Text is reproduced from this site's published record. Historical conservation statements and taxonomy have not been independently revalidated. See https://birdsofpuertorico.com/about for source credits and limitations.