• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Justification of Red List category
This species is classified as Near Threatened because it has a moderately small population that is suspected to be in slow decline owing to habitat loss and trade.

Population justification
The species is described as locally common in French Guiana and Venezuela (Hilty 2003, GEPOG per O. Claessens and V. Pelletier in litt. 2020), but as rare to uncommon in the remainder of its range in Guyana and Suriname (Stotz et al. 1996, O. Ottema in litt. 2020), though it may be overlooked (O. Ottema in litt. 2020). The population in French Guiana is estimated at 2,000-20,000 individuals (GEPOG per O. Claessens and V. Pelletier in litt. 2020), which may roughly equate to 1,300-13,000 mature individuals.

Assuming a similar density in Venezuela, the population there may number 500-5,000 mature individuals. Assuming further that the species reaches half the density in Guyana, Suriname and Brazil, the population in these range states may amount to 4,300-43,000 mature individuals. The global population is therefore tentatively placed in the band 6,000-61,000 mature individuals, though this requires confirmation.

Although there is little information about the species's subpopulation structure, the species is monotypic and there is no evidence to suggest that there are distinct subpopulations, so it is assumed that there is only one subpopulation.

Trend justification
While trapping for the cagebird trade has been a threat in the past, this now has only minor impacts on the population size, if at all (Dickey 2020, O. Ottema in litt. 2020). Habitat loss is low within the range, and large tracts of forests are still in pristine conditions (Tracewski et al. 2016, O. Ottema in litt. 2020). However, inland forests are increasingly logged and degraded through gold mining (O. Ottema in litt. 2020).  Over 19 years from 2001-2019, approximately 1% of tree cover with at least 30% canopy cover was lost within the species's mapped range (Global Forest Watch 2020). Scaled to three generations (44.22 years), this would equate to a loss of 2%. Over 2016-2019, approximately 0.4% of tree cover was lost within the species's range (Global Forest Watch 2020). If this rate were to continue for three generations (44.22 years), approximately 4% of tree cover within the species's range could be lost. The species is therefore tentatively suspected to be undergoing a slow decline at a rate of <10% over three generations.

Amazona dufresniana occurs in south-east Venezuela (Bolívar, with an isolated record in Amazonas), Guyana, north-east Suriname and French Guiana (Wege and Collar 1991, GEPOG 2020) and northern Brazil (de Faria and Gomide Alvim 2013, Carvalho 2016). The species is widespread and locally common in French Guiana and Venezuela (Hilty 2003, GEPOG 2020). In other parts of the range, the scarcity of records from frequently surveyed areas suggests that this is a low density and rather uncommon species (Wege and Collar 1991). In Suriname, it is described as very rare throughout the country, though it may be overlooked (O. Ottema in litt. 2020). In Guyana, "healthy populations" are known from the Aruka area in north-west Guyana between the Aruka and Amakuru rivers, Kaieteur National Park and the Kuribrong river, and the Iwokrama Forest Reserve (A. Narine in litt. 2010). In Brazil, the species has been recorded in Pará (de Faria and Gomide Alvim 2013, Carvalho 2016), there is an uncomfirmed report from Amapá (Collar 1995), and it is likely to occur in Roraima, although there are no confirmed records (de Faria and Gomide Alvim 2013).

It inhabits humid forest and cloud-forest in the lower subtropical zone but is also known from woodlands in forest-savanna mosaic in Venezuela (Wege and Collar 1991). Most birds in the Guianas have been reported from gallery forest (Wege and Collar 1991), but this may be an artefact of river transport use by observers (Juniper and Parr 1998). There are some seasonal movements, apparently in response to food availability, from interior to coastal Suriname in July-August (Wege and Collar 1991, Juniper and Parr 1998). It occurs up to 1,700 m in Venezuela and 560 m in Guyana (Wege and Collar 1991).

It has probably declined since the 19th century as a result of trapping for trade and habitat loss, particularly in the Gran Sabana region of Bolívar and parts of coastal Guianas (Wege and Collar 1991). It was internationally traded in small numbers during the 1980s, and this has continued especially in Guyana, where 321 were exported in 2002, and Suriname (CITES 2004). Overall, the international pet trade is no longer thought to affect the species (Dickey 2020, O. Ottema in litt. 2020). Some internal trade may still continue, perhaps most frequently for food and pets in the far east of its range (Desenne and Strahl 1991, Wege and Collar 1991, O. Ottema in litt. 2020). In Suriname, the species may be killed accidentally by hunters targeting A. amazonica (O. Ottema in litt. 2020). Large tracts of forests are still pristine in Suriname, but logging and gold mining are increasingly destroying and degrading remaining habitat (O. Ottema in litt. 2020). In the area where the species has been recorded in Pará, there is significant mining of bauxite on plateaus (de Faria and Gomide Alvim 2013).

Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. The species is recorded from Canaima National Park (Venezuela), Iwokrama Forest Reserve (Guyana), Brownsberg Nature Park (Suriname), Central Suriname Nature Reserve (Suriname) and Trinité and Nouragues Nature Reserves (French Guiana).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Carry out surveys in areas of appropriate habitat where it has not been recorded, including in Roraima, to better understand its distribution. Carry out surveys to determine its population density across its range, to better estimate the population size. Study its ecology, seasonal movements and ability to persist in degraded and fragmented habitats. Effectively protect core areas of remaining habitat. Enforce restrictions on trade.

Text account compilers
Wheatley, H., Hermes, C.

Contributors
Claessens, O., Narine, A. N., Ottema, O., Pelletier, V., Symes, A., Benstead, P., Capper, D. & Sharpe, C.J.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Blue-cheeked Amazon Amazona dufresniana. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blue-cheeked-amazon-amazona-dufresniana on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.