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Imperial Amazon | Amazona imperialis
Keizeramazone | Amazona imperial
The Imperial Amazon is the largest amazon and endemic to Dominica, where it is called sisserou. It is the island's national bird and appears on its flag. The species lives only in undisturbed montane rainforest and is one of the rarest parrots in the world. The smaller Red-necked Amazon also occurs on Dominica.
Voice
Loud and varied, higher than Red-necked Amazon: bugling calls, a squeaky, grating see-ee-ee and piercing cries that run into trills. The birds call mostly in flight and on take-off.
Recording: Garrett Yocklin — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
46–51 cm, large and heavy, with a fairly long rounded tail. Head and neck are dark purplish, the feathers with dark edges so the head looks scaled. Back, wings and tail base are dark green, the underparts deep violet-purple. The wing shows a red patch on the secondaries, and the primaries are dark blue-violet. The tail is reddish-brown with a dark terminal band. The eye is orange-red, the bill grey horn. The sexes are alike; juveniles have more green on the head and a brown eye. Flies with deep, powerful beats and sometimes glides over the forest.
Confusion species
Red-necked Amazon Amazona arausiaca, which shares the same forests, is smaller and mostly green, with a blue head, a red spot on the throat and a red wing patch; it has no purple on the underparts. In poor light or against the sky, size is the best feature: the Imperial is clearly heavier and has slower, deeper wingbeats.
Habitat
The canopy of undisturbed montane rainforest and cloud forest, mostly between 600 and 1300 metres, extending to lower slopes in river valleys. It eats fruit, seeds, nuts, flowers and buds of forest trees. Breeds from February to June in cavities of very large, old trees.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
Endemic to Dominica, almost entirely on the slopes of Morne Diablotin in the north of the island, especially in the upper Picard River valley. Formerly also in the southern mountains around Morne Trois Pitons, where it has declined sharply or disappeared.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
The best chance is from the viewpoints along the Syndicate trail in Morne Diablotin National Park, early in the morning when the birds fly over the forested valleys. Patience is needed; Red-necked Amazon is seen there far more often, so every large, dark parrot deserves a careful look.
Conservation status
Critically Endangered. The species declined through hunting, trapping and forest clearance, then partly recovered. The hurricanes of 2017, above all Maria, destroyed much of the montane forest; in 2018 only about twenty birds were seen. The number of mature birds is estimated at around fifty. Its small population and slow breeding leave it highly vulnerable to further hurricanes.
Scientific name
Amazona imperialis | Richmond, 1899
Richmond described the species in 1899 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Amazona was introduced in 1830 by Lesson. Amazona comes from 'Amazone', the French name Buffon gave to various tropical American parrots because they came from the Amazon region. imperialis is Latin for 'imperial', after the size and splendour of this largest amazon. The specimen the first description was based on came from Dominica.