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>
Show replies by date