The Lilac-crowned Amazon, Amazona finschi, is a parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

 endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to the Pacific slopes of Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. Also known as Finsch's Amazon

Amazon parrot

Amazon parrot is the common name for a parrot of the genus Amazona. These are medium-size parrots native to the New World ranging from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean....

, the parrot is characterized by green plumage, a maroon forehead, and violet-blue crown. Their coloring resembles that of the Red-crowned Amazon Amazona viridigenalis, though the Lilac-crowned Amazon is less vibrant.

In 2006 BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 classified this species as Vulnerable.

The binomial of this bird commemorates the German naturalist and explorer Otto Finsch

Otto Finsch

Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch was a German ethnographer, naturalist and colonial explorer.-Biography:...

.

Description

Lilac-crowned Amazon is medium sized mainly green parrot. It has a maroon forehead, a violet-blue crown, and a bone colored beak. They resemble the Red-crowned Amazon (Amazona viridigenalis) though the Lilac-crowned Amazon is less vibrant.

Feral populations

There are feral

Feral

A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...

 populations of this bird in several counties in southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

. It has been observed in residential and suburban areas, but also in native coniferous forest in the San Gabriel Mountains

San Gabriel Mountains

The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...

, California, USA.

Aviculture

Hand reared Lilac-crowned Amazons can be quite friendly in captivity and can learn quite a vocabulary, even though they are not known as talkers. They make good companion parrot

Companion parrot

Companion parrot is a general term used for any parrot kept as a pet that interacts abundantly with its human counterpart. Generally, most species of parrot can make good companions....

s.

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet