The Bird:
Amazona guildingii, the St. Vincent parrot, is our own native parrot and the country’s national bird. Adults are about 16 inches long and, though no two birds are alike, there are two distinct morphs, the yellow-brown and the green; this one displays the lovely green, yellow and blue of the SVG flag. These noisy parrots, whose calls include yapping, honking, shrieking, bubbling and squawking, live in St. Vincent’s verdant rainforests where they feed in the canopy on fruits, flowers and seeds.
The Vincy parrot was, until the 1980s, considered on the verge of extinction, victims of habitat loss and trapping for the pet trade. Though it still qualifies as vulnerable on the Red List of threatened species, thanks to public education campaigns, government legislation and the establishment of the St. Vincent Parrot reserve, there are now estimated to be over 500 individuals in the wild. One of the very best places to chance seeing them is the Vermont Nature Trail on St. Vincent’s leeward side.
Amazona guildingii, the St. Vincent parrot, is our own native parrot and the country’s national bird. Adults are about 16 inches long and, though no two birds are alike, there are two distinct morphs, the yellow-brown and the green; this one displays the lovely green, yellow and blue of the SVG flag. These noisy parrots, whose calls include yapping, honking, shrieking, bubbling and squawking, live in St. Vincent’s verdant rainforests where they feed in the canopy on fruits, flowers and seeds.
The Vincy parrot was, until the 1980s, considered on the verge of extinction, victims of habitat loss and trapping for the pet trade. Though it still qualifies as vulnerable on the Red List of threatened species, thanks to public education campaigns, government legislation and the establishment of the St. Vincent Parrot reserve, there are now estimated to be over 500 individuals in the wild. One of the very best places to chance seeing them is the Vermont Nature Trail on St. Vincent’s leeward side.
The Artist:
L.D. Lucy, artist and curator of Oasis Art Gallery Bequia has been taunted by honking and squawking on several walks in Vermont’s forest but has yet to see Amazona guildingii in the wild. In response she created a series of parrot paintings, portraying how she imagines seeing them in the trees. Here, one roosts at twilight high above the steep callaloo fields and the gentle slopes of the Emerald Valley.
L.D. Lucy, artist and curator of Oasis Art Gallery Bequia has been taunted by honking and squawking on several walks in Vermont’s forest but has yet to see Amazona guildingii in the wild. In response she created a series of parrot paintings, portraying how she imagines seeing them in the trees. Here, one roosts at twilight high above the steep callaloo fields and the gentle slopes of the Emerald Valley.
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