Lilac-crowned Amazon numbers are rapidly declining due to heavy trafficking and serious habitat loss. A 2012 study estimated the species’ current distribution along the Pacific coast of Mexico and revealed a 72.6% reduction. The species also has a low reproductive rate, and increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes making landfall along the Pacific coast are negatively affecting breeding through the loss of nesting trees and dwindling food sources.

Over two decades, the WPT has funded conservation and research projects in Mexico. Work has focused on researching area and diet requirements, habitat use and environmental variability on nestlings, factors limiting reproductive output, and daily and seasonal movements.

The Sierra de Atoyac in the state of Guerrero has one of the largest populations, but the species’ ecology and distribution there are largely unknown. The WPT, in partnership with Natural Encounters Conservation Fund (NECF), funded the work of NGO Bosque Nuboso A.C. to generate current information about the birds’ population and current and emerging threats. The team discovered key roosting sites, found important food plants, noted priority tree species for nesting and tracked the daily movements of a population of more than 100 individuals. Crucially, the team identified two key threats to the parrots’ survival: climbing prices for trapping and selling, and the potential for lethal human-wildlife conflict due to reports of crop damage.