Imperial Amazon: Dominica's National Bird on the Brink

The parrot on the flag

The Imperial Amazon (Amazona imperialis), known locally as the Sisserou, is a large deep-purple and green parrot endemic to the island of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean. It appears on the national flag — the only parrot on any national flag in the world.

Adults are around 45–50 cm long, with a dark purple head and underparts, green wings, and a heavy black bill.

A single mountain population

The species is confined to primary mountain rainforest on Dominica, particularly around Morne Diablotin and Morne Trois Pitons national parks. Historically it was more widespread; today the strongholds are the wettest, oldest forest patches above 600 metres.

The parrot nests in cavities in mature gommier, chatannyé and other large emergent trees. Suitable cavities are rare; competition with other cavity users is fierce.

The Hurricane Maria bottleneck

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Dominica as a Category 5 storm and stripped the leaves and fruit from almost the entire island. The Imperial Amazon population is thought to have crashed to fewer than 50 individuals in the year that followed.

Post-hurricane surveys have found slow recovery, but the species remains at the edge of viability. The 2017 event compressed a already tiny population into an even smaller genetic bottleneck.

Slow-breeding, long-lived

Imperial Amazons are long-lived — probably decades in the wild — and reproduce slowly. Pairs typically raise one chick every second year, and only when food supply and cavity availability align.

That life history is well suited to a stable rainforest, but it means recovery from catastrophic events is measured in decades, not years.

What still threatens the species

Beyond hurricanes, the main long-term threats are habitat loss to agriculture and hurricane-related salvage logging, competition for nest cavities with the sympatric Red-necked Amazon (Amazona arausiaca), and historical illegal capture for the pet trade.

Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of major Atlantic hurricanes, which is the single most consequential threat for a species this restricted.

Parks, patrols and captive insurance

Morne Diablotin National Park was created in 2000 specifically to secure the core Imperial Amazon range. The Dominica Forestry, Wildlife and Parks Division runs long-term monitoring and, since Hurricane Maria, has taken a small number of birds into a controlled captive facility as insurance against further catastrophe.

International partners including the World Parrot Trust and Rare Species Conservatory Foundation have supported field surveys, cavity monitoring and post-hurricane food supplementation.

A national symbol worth keeping

The Sisserou is one of the most concentrated examples of a national symbol whose survival depends on protecting a specific forest, on a specific island, against a specific and worsening threat. Dominica has done more than most Caribbean states to secure that forest; the next Category 5 storm will still be the real test.