Six thick-billed parrot chicks at New York's Queens Zoo are a big deal for their

[BuffaloParrot]

Six thick-billed parrot chicks at New York's Queens Zoo are a big deal for their endangered species
November 9, 2010 |  8:06 pm

NEW YORK — Six baby parrots born in New York are a major addition to the world's critically endangered thick-billed parrot species.

The chicks at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Queens Zoo are part of the largest flock of thick-billed parrots in the United States.

Zoo director Scott Silver says the baby birds are a major win in the fight to save the rare species, which was eliminated from the American Southwest by the mid-20th century.

The red-and-green parrot is native to Mexico and critically endangered elsewhere -- its population decimated by hunting and logging.

Since 2006, the Queens Zoo has successfully raised 15 thick-billed parrot chicks. The six latest chicks were born from three different sets of parents since July.