GREATER VASA PARROT

Characteristics

Most people think of parrots as being brightly colored, tropical birds. But Madagascar is well known for its unusual species, and the vasa parrots definitely meet that description. They do not have bright-colored feathers like more familiar parrots—instead, they are predominantly shades of gray, black, and brown. During breeding season, females become more brown, the result of redistribution of melanin in the feathers. No other parrot is known to change color in that manner. And it gets even weirder: during this time, females shed the feathers on their head, and the bare skin underneath changes color to yellow or orange. They end up looking a bit more like vultures than parrots. Vasa parrots also stand out from the crowd in that females are larger than males; in most parrot species, males and females are similar in size. These parrots may not be vivid, but they are certainly remarkable!

Behavior

One thing vasa parrots do share with other parrot species is their social life: they are gregarious and congregate in large, noisy flocks when feeding or roosting. They roost in the tops of tall trees, and a lookout keeps an eye out for danger. They make a wide range of sounds and calls, including whistling, yapping, vibrating grating sounds, harsh squawks, and raucous calls. They feed mainly on seeds, nuts, berries, and fruits. They will also eat grains in cultivated fields, such as corn, rice, and millet—which causes some conflict with farmers, who often consider them pests.

When it comes to breeding behavior, vasa parrots separate from other parrots once again. They have a polyandrous breeding strategy: females breed with several males, and the chicks in each brood may have different fathers. While raising chicks, the females are the ones to defend the territory around the nest, using loud, complex calls to announce their chosen location and get the attention of males. During this time, males feed regurgitated fruit to several different females, and one female may be supported by more than one male. There is some evidence that females compete with one another, and the ones that call louder and more often get more attention from the males.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Vasa parrot females often nest in cavities in baobab trees, laying three or four eggs and incubating them for 18 days—a much shorter period than the 30 days typical of most parrots. The chicks are altricial, hatching naked, but they skip the stage of developing down, going straight to growing feathers. They grow quickly and can be ready to fledge in only seven weeks. While growing they are voracious feeders. So much so that one pair of parents would have a hard time keeping up with their appetites, which may be one reason why a female and her chicks are fed by multiple males—they get more food that way.

Conservation and Threats

While currently listed by the IUCN Red List as Least Concern, greater vasa parrots are vulnerable to habitat loss, like so many species in Madagascar. Local people also consider them a harmful species, because they will raid grain crops, and people do hunt them for food. Another threat is being trapped for the wild bird trade. It is hoped that with increasing protection of their habitat in national parks, these surprising parrots will continue their place among Madagascar’s extraordinary wildlife.