Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve
| Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve | |
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| Location: | 19°43’23"N, 79°47’10"W |
| Information | |
| Website: | NTCI: Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve |
The Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve covers a belt of 282 acres in the centre of Cayman Brac, the third of the Cayman Islands. It is in the care of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands.
The Reserve protects mature and standing dead trees as nesting habitat for the endemic Cayman Brac Parrot (Amazona leucocephala hesterna), a distinct subspecies of the Cuban Amazon parrots of the islands, slightly smaller than the Grand Cayman Parrot (Amazona leucocephala caymanensis), although very similar in its colouring.
The parrots
The Cayman Brac Parrot used to inhabit both Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, but it was apparently wiped out frm Little Cayman in the great storm of 1932, which may have destroyed all the large trees with good nesting cavities.
Today the Cayman Brac parrot is found only on the one island and with a range so small, the smallest of any Amazon parrot, there is no scope for the population to reach a secure level. Surveys made in the 1990s indicated a fairly stable population of about 400-500 birds, but Hurricane Paloma in 1998 wreaked havoc and a survey in 2009 found a population of around 300. The long term future of the parrots depends critically on the conservation of forest areas on Cayman Brac.
The Reserve
In 1991, the National Trust acquired a 100-acre parcel of land on the Bluff, with a charitable donation from an American benefactor, which granr formed the nucleus for the new reserve. In 1994, an anonymous donation of 80 acres of nearby land was received, and in 1998 an additional donation by the earlier donor, Mr Pennie, brought the total protected area to 197 acres.
In 2005, the Trust completed the purchase of an additional 84½ acres of land, connecting the existing parcels. The Reserve now encompasses over 280 acres of contiguous protected land.
The Cayman Brac Parrot Reserve is dominated by pristine, ancient dry forest on a very rough and rocky terrain. A great diversity of native trees, including species not present on Grand Cayman or Little Cayman, support breeding forest birds such as the Red-legged Thrush, White-crowned Pigeon ("Bald Pate") and Black-whiskered Vireo. In the winter months, the Reserve is filled with neotropical migrant songbirds, escaping cold northern climates.
The Trust has established a mile-long nature trail through part of the Reserve, which forms a loop passing through several different types of terrain, from old farm land now under grass, past mango trees on red soil, and through diverse thickets, into mature forest.
Part of the trail uses an old path along the Bight Road; a track used by islanders to cross from one side of the Bluff to the other.
Parrots are often seen and heard around the Reserve, especially in the early morning and late afternoon. They nest secretively in tree cavities, and feed on the fruits and seeds of the forest. When resting quietly in the heat of the day, they are almost perfectly camouflaged among the leaves of the trees. It is this behaviour that has earned the Cayman Brac Parrot the nickname "Stealth Parrot".