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The Jamaica Parrot Project (JPP) was established in 1995 as the
first-ever systematic study of Jamaica’s unique Amazon parrots
– the Yellow-billed Parrot (Amazona collaria) and the Black-billed
Parrot (A. agilis). The overall goal is to promote the conservation
of Jamaica’s parrots, which are found nowhere else in the
world, and their critical habitat. Collaborative research between
Jamaican and United States researchers will provide high quality
biological information to government agencies and policy makers
to ensure the development of effective management plans.
The West Indies once had the highest concentration of native parrots,
macaws, and parakeets in the world. Poignantly, it has suffered
the highest number of extinctions. The region’s surviving
species are among the most threatened and endangered of all parrots.
Habitat loss and degradation have been identified as the two most
important causes of their historic decline in the West Indies and
this trend continues. Native forest is critical for Jamaica’s
parrots, which nest in tree hollows and depend on the forest for
food and shelter from adverse weather. The remaining forests of
Jamaica, which have been reduced from 100% to less than 10% of island
coverage, have become the parrots’ refuge but also have resulted
in them living in small, isolated populations that are more easily
threatened.
The JPP is addressing these issues by studying the distribution
and ecology of both parrot species. Much of the work is conducted
in the Cockpit Country, the stronghold of the Black-billed Parrot
and the only region where both occur together in significant numbers.
Initial research focused on the breeding biology of both species
mainly along the periphery of the Cockpit Country, and many nests
were monitored during three breeding seasons from 1996 to 1998.
As a next step, a large-scale population assessment is being carried
out; the results will provide an estimate of the total number of
breeding pairs of both species across the entire Cockpit Country.
The JPP is a collaboration among BirdLife Jamaica, the University
of the West Indies, and Yale University. Major financial support
is received from the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica and Wildlife
Preservation Trust International.
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