Yellow-naped amazon

Yellow-naped amazon
At Roatan Tropical Butterfly Garden, Honduras
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily: Psittacoidea
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Arinae
Tribe: Androglossini
Genus: Amazona
Species: A. auropalliata
Binomial name
Amazona auropalliata
(Lesson, 1842)
Synonyms

Amazona ochrocephala auropalliata

The yellow-naped amazon or yellow-naped parrot (Amazona auropalliata) is an amazon parrot sometimes considered to be a subspecies of yellow-crowned amazon, Amazona ochrocephala (Gmelin, 1788).

Deforestation is reducing the number of these parrots in the wild together with illegal removal of young for the pet trade. This parrot readily mimics sounds, and in captivity this includes human speech, which is probably the reason it is popular in aviculture. Like all parrots, however, mimic abilities vary greatly between individuals.

Description

The yellow-naped amazon is distinguished by its green forehead and crown and a yellow band across the lower nape (back part of neck) and hindneck. The beak is dark gray and is paler towards the base of the upper mandible. The feet are also dark gray.

Taxonomy

Three subspecies are recognized:

Range and habitat

It is found along the Pacific coast from southern Mexico south to northern Costa Rica.

Upper body
Adult
A 20-year-old pet parrot

In common with many parrot species, it feeds on nuts, berries, seeds, and fruit.

In captivity

Yellow-naped amazons are highly sought after for their talking ability and playful personalities. They are also known for nest-protective behaviors that often lead them to bite. This is particularly common in, but not limited to, males during the breeding season. While they do not always handle emotions well, they will signal when stressed or over excited by spreading (fanning) their tail and eye pinning (contracting and expanding the pupils of their eyes). If they are allowed to calm down before they are handling bites are not common. Yellow Napes, as with many other parrots tend to bond with one member of a household and may be jealous of others.

Yellow Nape parrots do enjoy the stimulation of interacting with people however. The more they are socialized the more comfortable they will be around humans and animals.

Yellow Nape parrots are cavity nesting birds [2] in their wild habitat, therefore they enjoy chewing. Because of this they should be supplied with bird safe and non toxic toys to chew. They also enjoy manipulating objects and interacting with them.

Parrot Chewing


A rare blue mutation of the yellow-naped amazon is known to exist, in which the entire body is turquoise in color.[3]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.