South American parrot in trouble: researchers
May 26, 2015
South American parrot in trouble: researchers
14 minutes ago
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A vinaceous-breasted (Amazona vinacea) parrot rests on the branch of a tree in Curitiba, southern
Brazil, on May 26, 2015
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A South American parrot with a wine-colored chest is in deep trouble, with its population down to some 3,000 and a habitat reduced to a speck of what it once was, researchers said Tuesday.
The Vinaceous-breasted Amazon—Amazona vinacea—lives in just three places in the world: Brazil's Atlantic coast jungle, southeastern Paraguay and the Misiones region of northeast Argentina.
Until now, no field work to study their numbers had been done, but it is estimated there were 10,000 a decade ago, a Brazilian foundation that sponsored the researchers said.
More than 90 percent of the remaining ones live in Brazil, said the study by universities and research bodies in the trio of countries that are home to the stocky, green medium-sized birds with a maroon-purple patch on the chest and belly.
More:
http://phys.org/news/2015-05-south-american-parrot.html