Aug. Amzons of the month

[Ray P]

Again I have chosen a pair of Amazons to share the month of Aug.

These two Amazons share a common reality and we will never see them in the wild or in captivity as they are both hypothetically extinct.

There existence is reported by naturalist of the time.

 

Martinique Amazon

Guadeloupe Amazon

 

The Martinique Amazon is a hypothetical extinct species of a Caribbean parrot in the Psittaeidae family. It is not known from any material remains, but was said to be similar to the Red Necked Amazon from Dominica, the next major island north of Martinique

 

Jean-Baptiste Labat described in 1742

Those of Dominica have some red feathers on their wings, under the throat, and in the tail, all the rest is green.

 

Those at Martinique have the same plumage as the last mentioned, but the top of the head is slate color with a small amount of red.

Assuming It was a genuine and distinct taxon.it was endemic to Martinique and became extinct due to habitat loss as Martinique was cleared for agriculture. It has not been recorded since 1722.

 

The Guadeloupe Amazon or Guadeloupe parrot is a hypothetical extinct species of parrot in the psittaciae family, it was endemic to Guadeloupe. It was hunted and by 1779 was already rare. Today it is extinct

Guadeloupe description;

DuTertre described it in 1667 as follows.

He is about big as a fowl, has beak and eyes bordered with red. all the feathers of the head and belly are a violet color, a little mixed black and green, strongly washed with brown, outer primaries black, the rest yellow, green, and red.

 

Labat described the bird in 1742 as followed.

Those of Guadeloupe are a little smaller than the Aras, they have there head, the neck and the belly slate color, with a few green and black, the back is entirely green and the wings are yellow and red.

 

The Guadeloupe Amazon a similarly speculative species was said to inhabit the island of Guadeloupe. It is some times considered to be the same as a Martinique, however it is more widely held to be related or identical to the Imperial Amazon the second Amazon species of Dominica.

 

 

The Martinique and Guadeloupe Amazon share August posthumously.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Ray P

[Greywings]

A sad reminder of our effect on our planet.