Wildlife· St Lucia· Windward Islands
St Lucia Parrot (Jacquot) in the Quilesse and Edmund Forests
13° 50.7′ N · 60° 58.5′ W
St Lucia's national bird, the endemic Saint Lucia amazon or 'Jacquot', a big green parrot with a violet-blue face and red breast, now recovered from about 150 birds in the late 1970s to roughly 1,150–1,500 adults living only in the island's interior rainforest.
Practical
Coordinate is the Quilesse Forest Reserve (Wikipedia, Micoud Quarter: 13°50'41"N 60°58'28"W); the Des Cartiers trail and the Edmund Forest Reserve (Enbas Saut, Mount Gimie) are the usual places to look. Habitat is montane moist forest at about 500–900 m (Wikipedia). Status: IUCN Vulnerable, CITES Appendix I; never disturb nests or buy captive birds. The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority lists Millet Bird Sanctuary, Edmund rainforest and the Des Cartier trail as the key birding sites, recommends a guide, and says early morning and late afternoon are best; December to May is the drier, easier season on the trails. Also look for the endemic St Lucia oriole, warbler and black finch. Forest reserves need Forestry Department permission (see the Enbas Saut entry).
Best for
Seeing an endemic parrot found nowhere else on earth
Season
Year-round; best at dawn
Nearby
- Des Cartiers Rainforest Trail (Quilesse Forest Reserve)0.5 NM away
- Enbas Saut Waterfall Trail (Edmund Forest Reserve)2 NM away
- Morne Gimie Summit Hike2.4 NM away
- Toraille Waterfall3.7 NM away
- Northeast Trade Winds and Winter Swell (St Lucia)3.9 NM away
- St Lucia Hurricane Season3.9 NM away
- Sulphur Springs (Soufrière volcano)4.2 NM away
- Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens4.4 NM away