Alternative name: Yellow-headed Parrot; Includes: Tres Marias Amazon
- Amazona oratrix
Includes: Tres Marias Amazon
Identification
35–38 cm (13¾-15 in)
- Bright green overall plumage
- Yellow head
- Dark scallops on neck
- Red at the bend of the wing
- Yellow thighs
- Blackish to bluish-violet flight feathers
- Red patch on the outer secondaries
- Red patch on base of the tail
- Yellowish tip on outer tail feathers
- Horn coloured bill
- White or grey eyering
Distribution
Lowland Mexico and northern Central America.
Feral populations (derived from escaped cagebirds) are established locally in California, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
Taxonomy
Some authors treat this species, together with Yellow-naped Amazon, as conspecific with Yellow-crowned Amazon[3].
Subspecies
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- A. o. oratrix on the Pacific and Atlantic lowlands of southern and eastern Mexico
- A. o. belizensis in Belize
- A. o. hondurensis in northern Honduras
- A. o. tresmariae on Tres Marias Islands (off western Mexico) - formerly accepted as full species by some authorities, with the name of Tres Marias Amazon or Tres Marias Parrot.
Habitat
Savannas, tropical deciduous forests, mangrove forests and forest clearings.
Behaviour
Breeding
They nest in holes in tree trunks or fallen branches about 6-23 m above ground. There is, however, little other information available.
Diet
They have a very varied diet, consisting of buds, acacia seeds, fruit and green leaves.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1997. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334221
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2017)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Yellow-headed Amazon. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow-headed_Amazon
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
