Psittaciformes - Ognorhynchus

Yellow Eared Parrot - Ognorhynchus Icterotis - Endangered

The yellow-eared parrot is an endangered parrot of tropical America. It is found in the Andes of Colombia and perhaps only formerly, Ecuador. It is closely associated with the wax palm Ceroxylon sp., which itself is endangered.

The yellow-eared parrot nests and lives among wax palms in a few areas of Western and Central Cordillera of Colombia, more widely known as the Andes Mountain Range, where it inhabits cloud forests about 1800–3000 meters above sea level. It nests in the hollow trunks of the palms, usually 25–30 meters over the floor level. It also occurred very locally in northern Ecuador where wax palm grows. Its numbers have been greatly reduced, and only 81 individuals were recorded in the Colombian census of 1999. Their populations have been impacted by hunting and habitat destruction, particularly the harvesting of wax palm, which was traditionally cut down and used each year on Palm Sunday. There has been no confirmed record of this parrot from Ecuador since the mid-90s. The number of mature individuals in the population is 212, though it is thought that there is a total of 1,408 individuals in the wild today.