>
>
> The Puerto Rican Amazon is the only bird endemic to the archipelago of
> Puerto Rico belonging to the Neotropical genus Amazona. Measuring
> 28–30 cm (11–12 in), the Puerto Rican Amazon is a predominantly green
> parrot with a red forehead and white rings around the eyes. Two
> subspecies have been described, although there are doubts regarding the
> distinctiveness of the form gracilipes from Culebra Island, extinct
> since 1912. The Puerto Rican Amazon reaches sexual maturity between
> three and four years of age. It reproduces once a year and is a cavity
> nester. Once the female lays eggs she will remain in the nest and
> continuously incubate them until hatching. The chicks are fed by both
> parents and will fledge 60 to 65 days after hatching. This parrot's
> diet is varied and consists of flowers, fruits, leaves, bark and nectar
> obtained from the forest canopy. The species is the only remaining
> native parrot in Puerto Rico and has been listed as critically
> endangered by the World Conservation Union since 1994. Once widespread
> and abundant, the population declined drastically in the 19th and early
> 20th centuries with the removal of most of its native habitat; the
> species completely vanished from Vieques and Mona Island, nearby to the
> main island of Puerto Rico. Conservation efforts commenced in 1968 to
> save the bird from extinction. In 2006, the total estimated population
> was 34 to 40 individuals in the wild and 143 individuals in captivity.
>
> Read the rest of this article:
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_Amazon>
>
> _______________________________
> Today's selected anniversaries:
>
> 1383:
>
> King Ferdinand I of Portugal died without a male heir to the Portuguese
> throne, resulting in a period of civil war and anarchy.
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I_of_Portugal>
>
> 1836:
>
> Sam Houston became the first president of the Republic of Texas.
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Houston>
>
> 1844:
>
> Millerites, including future members of the Seventh-day Adventist
> Church, were greatly disappointed that Jesus did not return as
> predicted by American preacher William Miller .
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment>
>
> 1934:
>
> Pretty Boy Floyd, an American bank robber and alleged killer who was
> later romanticized by the media, was gunned down by Federal Bureau of
> Investigation agents near East Liverpool, Ohio.
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Boy_Floyd>
>
> 1964:
>
> After the Nobel Committee announced that he had won the Nobel Prize in
> Literature, French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre became the
> first Nobel Laureate to voluntarily decline the prize, saying that he
> did not wish to be "transformed" by such an award.
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre>
>
> 2006:
>
> An expansion project to double the Panama Canal's capacity was approved
> by Panamanian voters in a national referendum by a wide margin.
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_expansion_project>
>
> _____________________________
> Wiktionary's word of the day:
>
> engross (v):
> 1. (law) To write a final copy in large and legible lettering.
> 2. To monopolize; To concentrate in the single possession of someone,
> especially unfairly.
> 3. To completely engage the attention of
> <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/engross>
>
> ___________________________
> Wikiquote quote of the day:
>
> If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you
> respond to people.
> --Timothy Leary
> <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary>
>
>
>
>
