Description
The Yellow-headed Amazon averages 35–38 cm (14–15 in) long. The shape is typical of amazons, with a robust build, rounded wings, and a square tail. The body is bright green, with yellow on the head, dark scallops on the neck, red at the bend of the wing, and yellow thighs. The flight feathers are blackish to bluish violet with a red patch on the outer secondaries. The base of the tail also has a red patch, which is usually hidden. The outer tail feathers have yellowish tips.
The bill is horn-colored, darker in immatures of the Belizean and Honduran subspecies. The eye ring is whitish in Mexican birds and grayish in others. The most conspicuous geographical difference is the amount of yellow. In adults, the head and upper chest are yellow in the subspecies of the Tres Marías Islands in the Mexican state of Nayarit (tresmariae); just the head in the widespread subspecies of Mexico (oratrix); just the crown in Belize, Guatemala, and far northwestern Honduras (belizensis); and the crown and nape in the Sula Valley of Honduras (hondurensis, which thus resembles the Yellow-naped Parrot). Immatures have less yellow than adults; they attain adult plumage in 2 to 4 years.
The variety "Magna" (or "Magnum") is bred for more yellow and commands a premium price as a pet. Some "extreme" Magnas have as much yellow as Tres Marías birds, but are distinguished from them by heavier barring on the chest and a less bluish tint to the green plumage.
Wild birds give low-pitched, sometimes human-sounding screams, but often fly silently (unlike many other parrots). Howell and Webb render some calls as "a rolled kyaa-aa-aaah and krra-aah-aa-ow, a deep, rolled ahrrrr or ahrhrrrr," etc. Young birds make a "clucking" sound to indicate that they are hungry.
Distribution and habitat
This species lives in riparian forest and areas with scattered trees, as well as evergreen forest in Belize and mangroves in Guatemala. It occurs in singly or in pairs, in small groups, and occasionally in big flocks. The range formerly included both coastal slopes of Mexico from the Tres Marías Islands and Jalisco to Oaxaca and from Nuevo León to northern Chiapas and southwestern Tabasco, as well as a disjunct area including most of Belize, and another comprising a small part of northeastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras. However, their numbers have been reduced drastically—by 90 percent, to 7,000, from the mid 1970s to 1994, and by 68 percent from 1994 to 2004—because of capture for the pet trade and habitat destruction.
Introduced populations can be found in Stuttgart, Germany where a population of over 50 individuals resides. Smaller introduced populations are to found at Imperial Beach, San Diego and Santa Anna both in Southern California.
Qualities as pets
Albeit it is only lawful to keep captive-bred Yellow-headed Amazons, these are widely available (if somewhat expensive) and their personalities make them highly desirable pets; they have been kept as such for centuries because they are among the parrots that "talk" best. Their vocal abilities are generally bested only by the African Grey Parrot and matched by similar species, such as the Yellow-naped Parrot.
As in most amazons, nervous plucking of plumage is rare among this species. A generally recognized disadvantage of the Yellow-headed Amazon and its close relatives (such as the Yellow-naped Amazon) is hormonal aggressiveness, most notable among males in the breeding season. It is a member of the "Hot Three", along with the Yellow-Naped and Blue Front.
