The St.Vincent Parrot’s Home

Posted by Rochelle Joseph in Birds,Events,Spotlight on Species

The St. Vincent Amazon Parrot (Amazona guildingii) is found on the small, volcanic, Caribbean island of St. Vincent.  The island of St. Vincent is part of the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  Houston is more than four times the size of St. Vincent!  This small island is the only place in the world that the St. Vincent Amazon Parrot is found in the wild.

 The St. Vincent Amazon Parrot is listed as a vulnerable species, with less than 800 left in the wild.  The Houston Zoo has housed St. Vincent Amazon Parrots since 1967 and is currently the only zoo in North America to do so.

The Houston Zoo hatched Vincent Deuxieme in 2008

To learn more about this exotic species, their habitat, and their history on the island of St. Vincent, join us on Sunday, September 4th from 11 AM until 3 PM at the St. Vincent building (near Stormy the bird bank) for our Spotlight on the Species. 
Keepers will be hosting fun activities about the island and the St. Vincent Parrot, including a volcano demonstration, flag creation station, face painting and more.  The keepers will also be there to answer any questions you may have about this special parrot.

This is one of the most beautiful birds, and your very own Houston Zoo is the only place they can be seen in all of North America so please mark your calendars and join us!
Written by Senior Bird Keeper Mollie Coym

New Bat on SVG

Abstract 
We describe and formally name a species of big-eared bat (genus: Micronycteris), collected from the Lesser Antillean island of Saint Vincent. The new species is distinguished from its closest relative, Micronycteris megalotis, by its large size, distinct craniodental features, and by mitochondrial DNA variation. The distribution of the new species is restricted to the island of St. Vincent, southern Lesser Antilles. Relaxed molecular clock analyses indicate the most recent common ancestor between the St. Vincent species of Micronycteris and mainland populations of M. megalotis is less than 1 million years. Rising sea levels during the late Pleistocene likely contributed to the geographic isolation and subsequent allopatric speciation of this new species. Our data reinforce previous hypotheses regarding unrecognized species diversity within the M. megalotis

(PhysOrg.com) -- At first glance, the bat captured in St. Vincent looked like a common type found in South America.
But after closer inspection, Texas Tech University biologists discovered a new species found only on the Caribbean island and whose origins probably trace back to a dramatic marooning after glaciers receded and sea levels rose.
The discovery was made by Peter Larsen, a post-doctoral research associate in the Department of Biological Sciences, and Lizette Siles, graduate student of zoology. It was featured in the online version of the peer-reviewed journal, Mammalian Biology.

Read more on : http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-species-st-vincent-island.html

(Thanks to Cheryl King)