Impacts on the St. Vincent Parrot and Other Wildlife

The normally lush green landscape of this beautiful country is now blanketed in gray ash. It’s possible that the eruptions and ash fall could go on for weeks, devastating an island already suffering from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. We are very concerned about the impacts to many regional and endemic birds on St. Vincent, particularly the threatened St. Vincent Parrot (Amazona guildingii), listed as Vulnerable, and the Whistling Warbler, listed as Endangered. Other restricted-range endemic species (12) include the Grenada Flycatcher, Rufous-throated Solitaire, Purple-throated Carib, Brown Trembler, Lesser Antillean Tanager, Antillean Euphonia, and others. The St. Vincent Parrot is a gorgeous, vibrant symbol of national pride, which bears the country’s national colors. It stands apart from many other Caribbean parrots with the typical green body feathers instead showing iridescent bronze feathers, edged in sunset orange. These striking parrots were once common, but destruction of their forest habitat, illegal trade, hunting, and hurricanes all led to the parrot’s decline to only 370-470 birds in the 1980s. Thankfully, the parrot and its habitat are now protected by law and the population is slowly increasing. It is now listed as Vulnerable with a wild population of about 750 birds. Parrots are generally resilient, but they need our help to make it through this devastating natural disaster.

The Threatened St. Vincent Parrot Needs our Help

Our colleague in St. Vincent, Lystra Culzac, is optimistic that any parrots in the area of the volcano would have moved to safer zones (their main population area is in the west and east slopes of the central mountain range south of the Soufriére Volcano). However, with continuing eruptions many birds have and will continue to perish as ecosystems are devastated from the atmospheric gases and heavy ash fall blanketing the country, as well as pyroclastic flows. We’re very concerned about the impacts on the health and survival of the St. Vincent Parrot, Whistling Warbler, and other birds and wildlife. Breathing volcanic ash and dust is extremely harmful; Radio Grenadines reported  Scaly-naped Pigeons falling dead out of the sky on nearby Union Island the day after the first eruption. One adult St. Vincent Parrot in the Jennings area has been rescued so far. The bird was found in the Jennings area on Thursday 15th. Bradford Latham (Acting Forest Supervisor for Wildlife Conservation) reported that the bird was very weak when found—its eyes were swollen and crusty with ash and its crop was empty. Sadly the veterinarian worked to save it, but was not able to.

How Your Gift Will be Used

We are working closely with other concerned  conservation organizations that want to help, such as the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, Caribaea Initiative, and Fauna and Flora International, in partnership with the Forestry Department in St. Vincent, who is directing the recovery effort.  Plans are being formulated for the rescue and rehabilitation of St. Vincent Parrots that are impacted by the volcano. However, carrying them out will be complicated and take time, due to the pandemic and also the understandable need to deal with the humanitarian crisis first. Birds that are  rescued will be  cared for in the Botanical Gardens of St. Vincent, set up as a rehab and breeding facility. Aviary building supplies are needed to expand aviaries and holding enclosures for rescued birds. Survey equipment, parrot feed, and veterinary supplies are needed to provide care, food, and shelter to rescued birds.

Ensuring the long-term health and recovery of the St. Vincent Parrot will require sustained support and effort as the eruptions may continue for weeks or months (Univ of West Indies Seismic Research Centre). The immediate priorities are field expeditions to search for injured and weakened parrots, put out ripe fruit, nuts and parrot feed on platforms in forest areas with high concentrations of parrots,  and expanding accommodations for rescued birds. Down the line, habitats and park infrastructure may  need restoration and repair. In addition, surveys to assess the damage to habitats and the parrots’ overall population size will be critical. We will keep our community informed about these plans and our progress in the coming days and weeks. Keeping the parrots within SVG territory is a conservation priority. Rescued birds will be cared for until is safe for them to return to their mountain forest habitat.

https://www.birdscaribbean.org/2020/05/from-the-nest-day-25/