which supply nesting cavities. It formerly fre- 

 quented more diversified habitat, particularly at 

 lower elevations (Noel Snyder pers. comm.). 

 Dwarf forest at higher elevations and second 

 growth lowland forest are not used by parrots 

 (Cameron Kepler in lit. 8 Feb. 1971). 



Parrots occupy the Tabonuco, Sierra Palm, 

 and Colorado forest types of Wadsworth (1952). 



FOOD AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR 



Rodriguez-Vidal (1959) lists more than 50 

 species of fruiting plants used by parrots. Most 

 commonly used was sierra palm {Prestoea mon- 

 tana [Euterpe geobosa] ) with a long fruiting pe- 

 riod from November tojune (chiefly Feb. through 

 March). Other important food plants were bejuco 

 de rana vine {Marcgravia sintenisii), camasey de 

 paloma [Miconia sintenisii), tabonuco {Dacryodes 

 excelsa), cabeilo {Casearia guianensis), guara 

 [Cupania triquetra) and hueso bianco (Mayepea 

 domingensis) trees. Kepler (1970) has seen par- 

 rots extracting nectar from fleshy bracts below 

 flower clusters on marcgravia vines and noted 

 that, in some areas parrots feed more heavily on 

 Clusia krugiana than any other tree. 



Rodriguez-Vidal (1959) also stressed the im- 

 portance of the tabonuco tree in providing fruit 

 during August to November because parrot food 

 is scarce during that period of heavy rains. How- 

 ever the largest flocks he counted (200) were 

 feeding on sierra palm, bejuco de rana and cama- 

 sey de paloma (with no mention of tabonuco); on 

 8 November 1953 and 31 October 1954, both at 

 Valle Hicaco on El Yunque. He never observed 

 parrots feeding on the ground. They fed chiefly 

 on pericarps of wild fruits but silso on flowers 

 and tender shoots. If fruit is in clusters, parrots 

 cut off the entire small supporting branch, held it 

 in one foot, and picked off ripe fruit, letting un- 

 ripe fruit fall to ground. They fed in groups and 

 if frightened while eating would fly off, some 

 carrying one piece or clusters of fruit in their bills. 

 He did not see any parrots fighting over food. 

 Parrots move about widely to feed especially be- 

 tween September and December when tabonuco 

 is in fruit. They are highly regular in their daily 

 flights of from 1 to 5 km to and from food sources 

 and night roosts (Kepler 1973). Kepler (1970) 

 points out the possibility that an adequate supply 

 of their essential foods is not found within the 



Forest Reserve, accounting for reported flights 

 from the forest during the summer months. They 

 forage in semi-social groups. The normal foraging 

 range of a nesting pair is about 1.6 km, but some- 

 times 8 km or farther. There is no evidence of a 

 shortage of food. With failure of the sierra palm 

 crop in 1974, parrots shifted to other foods (Noel 

 Snyder pers. comm.). 



SHELTER REQUIREMENTS 



Cavities for nesting are the only shelter re- 

 quired. 



NESTING OR BEDDING 



The nest is a hollow in a tree. In Luquillo 

 Forest Reserve nearly all nests found have been in 

 cavities in large Colorado trees {Cyrilla racemiflora) 

 formed by rotting of wood of trunk after branches 

 have been lost to wind or other accidents. Parrots 

 prepare nests by clearing out the interior of the 

 cavity, but do not add lining material. Most sites 

 chosen have been more than 5 m from the ground. 

 Cavities have been random in compass orientation, 

 with minimum observed entrance diameters of 

 10 cm and minimum observed internal diameters 

 of about 23 cm. Cavity depths have ranged to 

 240 cm with the deepest cavities apparently pre- 

 ferred. All recent nests have been about 500 m 

 elevation. 



Historically, parrots nested in holes in cliffs as 

 well as hollow trees, but recently located nests 

 have all been in rotted out cavities in large color- 

 ado trees. Most such cavities are unsuitable for 

 nesting because they are too wet or too small. 

 Suitable nest sites are scarce and limiting to breed- 

 ing of parrots in their traditional areas, which 

 they seem to be reluctant to leave for other areas 

 where suitable nest sites exist (Noel Snyder pers. 

 comm.). 



RITUAL REQUIREMENTS 



Kepler (1973) says there are distinct take-off 

 calls, flight calls, and series of contact calls, in- 

 cluding duetting between pair members. The lat- 

 ter probably serve as "station identification" 

 (Helen Snyder pers. papers 9 May 1975). 



Calls are pair specific. Pairs are very territorial 

 and aggressively defend their territory. There is 

 evidence that pairs identify one another by calls, 



