The Puerto Rican Amazon is the only bird endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico belonging to the Neotropical genus Amazona. Measuring 28–30 cm (11–12 in), the Puerto Rican Amazon is a predominantly green parrot with a red forehead and white rings around the eyes. Two subspecies have been described, although there are doubts regarding the distinctiveness of the form gracilipes from Culebra Island, extinct since 1912. The Puerto Rican Amazon reaches sexual maturity between three and four years of age. It reproduces once a year and is a cavity nester. Once the female lays eggs she will remain in the nest and continuously incubate them until hatching. The chicks are fed by both parents and will fledge 60 to 65 days after hatching. This parrot's diet is varied and consists of flowers, fruits, leaves, bark and nectar obtained from the forest canopy. The species is the only remaining native parrot in Puerto Rico and has been listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union since 1994. Once widespread and abundant, the population declined drastically in the 19th and early 20th centuries with the removal of most of its native habitat; the species completely vanished from Vieques and Mona Island, nearby to the main island of Puerto Rico. Conservation efforts commenced in 1968 to save the bird from extinction. In 2006, the total estimated population was 34 to 40 individuals in the wild and 143 individuals in captivity.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_Amazon

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1383:

King Ferdinand I of Portugal died without a male heir to the Portuguese throne, resulting in a period of civil war and anarchy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I_of_Portugal

1836:

Sam Houston became the first president of the Republic of Texas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Houston

1844:

Millerites, including future members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, were greatly disappointed that Jesus did not return as predicted by American preacher William Miller . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment

1934:

Pretty Boy Floyd, an American bank robber and alleged killer who was later romanticized by the media, was gunned down by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents near East Liverpool, Ohio. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Boy_Floyd

1964:

After the Nobel Committee announced that he had won the Nobel Prize in Literature, French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre became the first Nobel Laureate to voluntarily decline the prize, saying that he did not wish to be "transformed" by such an award. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre

2006:

An expansion project to double the Panama Canal's capacity was approved by Panamanian voters in a national referendum by a wide margin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_expansion_project

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

engross (v): 1. (law) To write a final copy in large and legible lettering. 2. To monopolize; To concentrate in the single possession of someone, especially unfairly. 3. To completely engage the attention of http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engross

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you respond to people. --Timothy Leary http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary