Falcons, parrots, parakeets are all near neighbours according to Faraaz Abdool who considers the fates of native parrots on some islands of the Lesser Antilles. All photos courtesy Faraaz Abdool

For those of us familiar with the budgerigar – colloquially known as “budgie” – they are built for flight much like falcons are. Long, tapered wings and a long tail propel and guide a bullet-shaped body with ease at bone-shattering speeds. Even the mint-green rose-ringed parakeet, Europe’s first introduction to this family courtesy Alexander the Great in 327AD, shares these characteristics.

Delving deeply into the most recent revisions of avian taxonomy, one would encounter a pair of surprising neighbours. Falcons, within the order Falconiformes, famous for their blistering speed and ruthless accuracy, sit adjacent to Psittaciformes: parrots, cockatoos, and their relatives. Indeed, all these birds lie along the same spectrum. A look at budgerigars in their thousands whirling and diving to avoid the talons of an ardent black falcon in the Australian outback would undoubtedly cement the ancient link between the two.

Here in the Neotropics there are no budgerigars or cockatoos, but there are macaws, parrots, parakeets, and the smallest of them all, parrotlets. European explorers encountered indigenous peoples with psittacine companions; personable and desirous of social contact on a consistent basis, many of these birds were transported to Europe, rekindling interest in parrot-keeping. By the 18th century, the keeping of parrots in cages was a well-patronised trend, one which persists to the present.

Today it is well known that most species are in a serious existential crisis. The most common culprits are anthropogenic in origin; habitat loss and hunting are typically the top two reasons any species teeters on the brink of extinction. Piling on pressures of the pet trade adds another weight to the scale that is already tipping over towards an undesirable outcome. Within the order Psittaciformes, just about half of the species are either under threat of extinction, or already extinct. They are undoubtedly one of the most imperilled families of birds on the planet. Fortunately in some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles, there are ardent conservation efforts to save several emblematic parrot species from permanent erasure.

The parrots of the Lesser Antilles all lie within the Amazona genus of parrots, not unlike the orange-winged parrot that is found throughout Trinidad and Tobago. The nature of these islands leads to a high degree of endemism, and many are thought to have at least once had an endemic species of Amazona parrot! The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe have sadly already lost their respective parrots: Martinique parrot and Guadeloupe parrot, both with final records in 1779. Hunting was cited as the principal culprit behind their demise.

Clinging to co-exist

In nearby Dominica, a pair of species clings to existence. Both are endemic to this mountainous and heavily forested island,