Description
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon is mainly green and about 33 cm long. It has a whitish forehead and lores, and a yellow crown, ocular region and - often - ear coverts and chin. The bare eye-ring is white. The thighs and the bend of the wing ("shoulder") are yellow, but both can be difficult to see. The throat, cheeks and belly often have a bluish tinge. As most members of the genus Amazona, it has broad dark blue tips to the remiges and a red wing-speculum. Its beak is horn coloured.
In its range the yellow shoulder patch and extensive yellow on the head distinguish the Yellow-shouldered Amazon from other Amazona species, which have red or orange on the shoulder and less yellow on the head (the Orange-winged Amazon, which has as much yellow to the head as some Yellow-shouldered Amazons, has a blue ocular region). However, outside its range, several other Amazona species have as much - or more - yellow on their heads.
Behaviour
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon call is a rolling cur'r'r'k.
Diet and feeding
It feeds on fruits, seeds, and cactus flowers.
Breeding
The Yellow-shouldered Amazon nests in a tree hole and lays 3-4 eggs. It is highly gregarious when not breeding, forming flocks of up to 100 birds.
Status
There are believed to be 2,500–10,000 Yellow-shouldered Amazon parrots in the wild.
Due to ongoing habitat lost, small population size, limited range and overhunting for the cagebird trade, the Yellow-shouldered Amazon is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I and II of CITES.
