Puerto Rican Parrot
Scientific Name
Class
Order
Range
Habitat
Estimated Wild Population
More Information
Physical Description
Puerto Rican parrots are medium-sized Amazon birds with mostly green plumage. Their primary feathers, mainly visible when they are resting or flying, are a vivid blue. A small red crown and white eye-rings distinguish them from the similar-looking Hispaniolan parrot and red-crowned parrot. In the wild, they feast on seeds, nuts, bark, and nectar found in the forest canopy. Puerto Rican parrots mate for life, breeding from January to July during the dry season. Chicks are born without feathers in clutches of two to four birds.
Interesting Fact 1
The two males at Lincoln Park Zoo are the first Puerto Rican parrots to live in the continental United States. They are here as part of a managed population recovery effort.
Interesting Fact 2
These birds are secondary cavity nesters; they don’t excavate new nest cavities, but instead rely on previously excavated sites or holes.
Interesting Fact 3
They have inhabited Puerto Rico for more than 1,000 years and once numbered in the millions, but since European colonization of the island, their numbers have plummeted.
Commitment to Care
Lincoln Park Zoo prioritizes individual well-being over everything else. Guided by scientific research, staff and volunteers work to provide the best welfare outcomes for each individual in the zoo’s care.
Support Your Zoo
Animals Depend On People Too
When you ADOPT an animal, you support world-class animal care by helping to provide specially formulated diets, new habitat elements, and regular veterinary checkups.
Wish List
The Wish List is full of one-of-a-kind items for the zoo’s animals, including nutritious snacks and enrichment items to keep them active and healthy.
Take Action With Us
Wildlife face many daunting challenges—some global, like planet-wide climate change, and some that affect individuals, like an animal ingesting plastic—but now is not the time to despair. None of these problems are too big for us to come together and solve.
