Bahama Parrot Populations Bounce Back

Bahama parrot. PHOTO CREDIT: Lynn Gape, Bahamas National Trust.
Bahama parrot. PHOTO CREDIT: Lynn Gape, Bahamas National Trust.

Recent surveys of the Bahama Parrot on Inagua conducted by Dr. Frank Riviera, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Zeko McKenzie, lecturer at College of The Bahamas (COB), indicated that the Bahama Parrot population on Inagua is on the rise reaching an estimated 14,000 parrots.

“In my view, the parrot population on Inagua is at the highest estimated level since 2003,” said Dr. Riviera in his report to the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) this year. In September of 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the island of Inagua as a category five hurricane. The flamingo population weathered the storm with a small loss of life but the Bahama Parrot population was heavily impacted. The BNT undertook long term monitoring of the Bahama parrot on Inagua with the assistance of Dr. Frank Riviera and Caroline Stahala for over 10 years.

Recently, Zeko McKenzie, was added to the parrot project, by the BNT.

The last parrot population census was conducted in 2002-3 by the BNT. It revealed more parrots were in Inagua than Abaco, with 8,000 – 12,000 birds in Inagua, and 2,500 in Abaco. Monitoring of the Bahama parrot on Abaco after Hurricane Jean showed that it took one-to-two years before the parrots would begin to reproduce normally.

In a March 2009 survey, the Inagua population was estimated at 5,000 parrots. In 2010, two years after Hurricane Ike, the population grew to 7,000 birds, still below the 2003 census.

The Bahama Parrot was once found on seven islands, but now can only be found on Abaco and Inagua. The breeding strategies in the two parrot populations are different. The Abaco population is the only ground-nesting parrot in the Western Hemisphere; it is also the only parrot in the world that has adapted to fire. The breeding area of the parrot in Abaco is protected in the Abaco National Park, which was created in 1994. One of the threats to the ground nesting Abaco parrots is predation by feral cats. The BNT has been conducting a predator control programme in the breeding area of the Abaco National Park for the past four years; as a result there has been a significant decline in predation.

The Bahama Parrot is protected by the Wild Birds Protection Act and anyone caught harming or capturing a parrot can face a significant fine and/or imprisonment.

“The recent population census of the Bahama Parrot on Inagua is certainly good news,” said Lynn Gape, BNT Deputy Executive Director. “This combined with the recent census of the Abaco Parrot population showing a population increase from 2,500 to 4,000 gives us hope that with continued management efforts we can continue to have healthy and viable endemic parrot populations on Abaco and Inagua.”

The Bahamas National Trust was created by an Act of Parliament in 1959 to build and manage the national park system of the Bahamas. For more information, visit www.bnt.bs.