The Cuban Amazon and its Subspecies

Abstract

Considered one of the most beautiful Amazons, the Cuban has always fascinated the selective aviculturist. It is thought to be the first neotropical parrot brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus, and the Lucaya Indians, inhabiting the Bahamas, were the first "New World" people encountered by Columbus. They kept A. leucocepbala babamensis both for food and for pets. Carbon dating of bones of this Amazon found in caves on New Providence, place its arrival there as recent as 2,000 years ago. It has long been our opinion that Arawak, Caribe and Lucaya Indians may have played an important role in the distribution of psittacine and reptile fauna throughout the Caribbean. There is ample evidence in sixteenth century records of early Europeans that these original islanders kept both reptiles and parrots.

When the Spanish arrived in Puerto Rico, they found the Tiano Indians using boats that measured up to 150 feet in length and they exhibited expert seamanship. Recent mud slides in Puerto Rico have revealed a stone ball court and jade artifacts identical to those fashioned by the Maya of Central America. There can be little doubt these seafarers of the extreme eastern Caribbean engaged in commerce with their mainland counterparts. If they traded for jade, it is highly possible they returned home with birds and reptiles, seeing that such fauna played an important function among the Maya. The latter's advanced civilization would certainly have impressed the Tianos to the point of emulation of these more affluent people. We discovered semifossilized bird bones in a cave (1976) on the southern coast of Cayman Brae in conjunction with kitchen middens left by early Indians. When analyzed by the Cayman Museum (now under development), they will perhaps disclose some parrot bones of A. leucocepbala besterna.

If we consider the implications of our theory, we may be inclined to say insular speciation can occur more rapidly than previously thought. The laudable research in progress with DNA should presently disclose the history of all living things. Captive breeding various leucocepbala into the fourth generation, coupled with nearly two decades of field research of West Indian species, has placed us in a rather unique position to observe how rapidly morphology can change.

The Cuban People and Their Parrot

Growing up in Tampa exposed the senior writer to the many Cuban Amazons kept by Cuban immigrants who comprised a large segment of Tampa's multiculture. These people brought their dearest possessions with them when they left the Island. The parrot represented a link with their beloved homeland. When traveling through the Latin quarter of Ybor City in the 1940s, it was not unusual to see this Amazon in cages hanging on porches and balconies. As the original owner passed away, the parrot became a legacy to his heirs. The younger generation, being born in Tampa, did not always appreciate the significance of their parents' pet. Consequently, the only pet shop in Tampa often had this Amazon for sale at reasonable prices due to its common availability. Because of this, my mother purchased one of thse castoffs when I was age 14 (1946). Thus began an ongoing romance with this species and all the Caribbean Amazons, which has now lasted 44 years.

From the Cuban people of Tampa, Miami and Key West, I learned much of the lore and history of leucocepbala. This data has been faithfully reported to aviculturists since 1967. Some of the Cuban immigrants made regular trips back to the island of Cuba via the ferry boat that sailed three times a week between Key West and Havana, until the revolution of 1959. Upon returning to the United States, quite often a parrot had somehow managed to stow away in a lady's handbag until diplomatic relations made such trips impossible. Not withstanding, U.S. Customs confiscated 48 Cuban Amazons when they seized a cigar boat in the Florida Keys in 1988. There were few drugs found on the boat, but many requests for prescription medicines, letters, and the parrots destined for Cuban people in Miami. Greg Moss and I were called to testify on behalf of U.S. law enforcement. We were shown the parrots which were being housed at Miami Metro Zoo during the trial. All were five years to above 20 years of age. Each cried out for attention when we spoke to them in the language they were accustomed to hear. This incident demonstrates the Cuban people's continued interest in this parrot from the '' Pearl of the Antilles'.' The case was won by our government and two of the four defendants fled the country before sentencing. However, the disposition of the Amazons in question seems to be clouded in uncertainty (Ron Johnson, 1990, per. comm.).

For the most part, the average Cuban Amazon kept in Tampa as a pet was treated as a favored member of the family and had table privileges at mealtimes. These parrots thrived on the same food as eaten by their owners. When we began collecting these birds in 1965 (and for the next decade), their excellent health gave evidence of the nutritional value of black beans, red beans, garbanzo beans, gandules (peas), northern beans, English peas, rice, plantains, fish, pork and chicken, not to mention Cuban bread and butter topped off with Cuban coffee. Since much ado over the avian nutritional value of beans (pulses) was forthcoming in the eighties, this bit of lore might be of interest. Actually, senior aviculturists from California tried to turn us on to sprouted beans for our parrots as early as 1965 (Hart, per. comm.).

The majority of the Amazons we collected from the Cuban people in Tampa, Miami and Key West (1965 - 1975) were above 20 years of age. They were in good health but they still had to be conditioned to accept a mate, something they had been deprived of since juveniles and they also had to learn how to breed, a behavior that begins in the first year with our many captive-reared young. In some cases, it required several years to bring these old pets into breeding condition, but once they began they proved the best of parents and continued to produce offspring until the last year of their lives. The greater number of these original Cuban parrots have died but three still remain, representing 25 percent of the great-great-grandparents of the fourth generation having been bred at Life Fellowship for...

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References

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