As its name suggests, the St. Lucia Parrot, or Jacquot, is found only on the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies where it lives in the central mountain rainforest.  In the darkness of the forest, their feathers appear dull and the parrots blend into their leafy world. But when the sunlight shines on their feathers, they display a brilliant pallet of red, green and blue. In the early morning and evening the parrots search the treetops for food, which includes a wide variety of fruits and seeds. The birds have a range of calls, from soft and liquid to harsh and strident. Carol and I saw several in the distance as we went through the rainforest
but these are captured birds.

Breeding and Lifecycle

Early in the year birds aged four years or more pair up with a mate they invariably keep for life .
They search for a nest hole high up in an old tree and between March and June have their young.
Nothing is added to the nest and the female lays up to three white eggs on the rotten wood base and incubates them for around 28 days. The chicks are bald, blind and totally dependent on their parents for protection, warmth and food. The parents regurgitate partially digested food for their young until, after about 80 days, they join the adults in the forest.

Status and Conservation

Status: Endangered
By 1975 as few as 100 parrots survived in the wild. Combined pressures from deforestation and shooting were taking their toll. The St. Lucia Forestry and Lands Department initiated and island-wide education programme while protecting substantial areas of rainforest and banning all hunting until further notice. The Jacquot became the National Bird in 1979, the year of St. Lucia's independence, and the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust was invited to collect fledglings from the nest to begin the world's only breeding program at Forestry Headquarters.
Now, JWPT, WPTI, and St Lucia Forestry officers are studying the parrots in their aviaries and in the forest to perfect breeding techniques. The number of St. Lucia parrot in the wild has almost tripled since conservation measures were first introduced. Much of the St. Lucia parrot’s original  habitat was lost through forest clearance for agriculture or hunting. By 1975 as few as 100 parrots remained in the wild.  At that point, the Government of St. Lucia and the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust collected  seven parrot fledglings from their nest and established a breeding programme in Jersey. Simultaneously, a Forest Department education  programme was successfully converting St. Lucians’ attitude towards their unique parrot.
In 1979, the year of the country’s independence, the St. Lucia parrot was officially named the National Bird. Further, all hunting was banned and a large area of the rainforest was declared a Parrot sanctuary.
By November 1998 fourteen (14) healthy chicks had been reared in Jersey from which the Prime Minister of St. Lucia collected two (2) young parrots  destined for St. Lucia’s own breeding programme.

The best news of all is that the decline of the wild population has been reversed, and numbers have increased tremendously since conservation measures were introduced to St Lucia.

ST LUCIA HOTEL GUIDE