Diet and feeding behaviour of naturalised Amazon Parrots in a European City

Abstract

Observations on the diet and feeding behaviour of naturalised Yellow-headed Amazona oratrix and Blue-fronted Amazon Parrots Amazona aestiva xanthopteryx and their hybrids were carried out in the city of Stuttgart, southwest Germany, the only European city known to host an established population. Food items taken ranged from bark, young shoots, flower and leaf buds, flowers, and seeds to fruit. Since the introduction of the Amazon Parrots in 1984, a total of 64 food plant taxa from 23 plant families were identified, amongst them 37 native taxa, and 27 non-native trees and shrubs. Food resources seem widely available for this naturalised population and therefore appear not to be a limiting factor for population growth. Some food items containing bitter and poisonous compounds are used exclusively by Amazon Parrots, reducing food competition with native birds.