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

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.

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-- Associated Press

Photo: A thick-billed parrot perches on a tree at the Queens Zoo on Oct. 21 in a photo provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Credit: Julie Larsen Maher / Associated Press