Yellow-headed Parrot

Amazona oratrixOrder: PSITTACIFORMES Family: Parakeets and Parrots (Psittacidae)

Codes: Common Name: YHPA Scientific Name: AMAORA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 554926

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Overview

Yellow-headed Parrot: Large green parrot with yellow head. Flight feathers all tipped blue-black, patch of red on secondary feathers and at bend in wing. Curved yellow beak, gray legs and feet. Feeds on fruits, seeds, and buds. Classified as an Endangered Species owing to rapid population decline.

Range and Habitat

Yellow-headed Parrot: Found in coastal areas of southern Mexico, though endangered and populations declining sharply. Small numbers of escaped cage birds now established in Los Angeles, California, south Texas, and in Florida. Found in pine and deciduous forests and adjacent savannahs.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"kya-a-a-ah"

Interesting Facts

The Yellow-headed Parrot was first described in 1887 by Robert Ridgway, an American ornithologist. It is also known as the Double Yellow-headed Amazon.

Their popularity as pets continues to fuel poaching efforts, which have nearly driven it to extinction in the wild. Their population has declined from 70,000 to 7,000 in the past two decades alone.

They have been kept as pets for centuries because they are among the parrots that "talk" best. Their vocal abilities are generally considered to be bested only by the African Grey Parrot.

A group of parrots has many collective nouns, including a "company", "pandemonium", "prattle", and "psittacosis" of parrots.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

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Dwight Kirkland

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Yellow-headed Parrot

● Song: "kya-a-a-ah"

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow-headed Parrot: Moves in pairs or small flocks in search of fruits, seeds, and buds.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow-headed Parrot: Lays 2 to 3 white eggs in tree cavities 20 to 45 feet high from February to May. Female incubates eggs while male feeds her. Incubation takes about 24 days. Juveniles need 3 to 4 years to reach adulthood.

● Similar species: Yellow-headed Parrot: In its native range the Yellow-naped Parrot can be separated by its yellow nape and lack of red at bend in wing. The Yellow-crowned Parrot only has yellow on the forehead.

Flight Pattern

Shallow rapid wingbeats, flies high over canopy.

● Range & Habitat: Yellow-headed Parrot: Found in coastal areas of southern Mexico, though endangered and populations declining sharply. Small numbers of escaped cage birds now established in Los Angeles, California, south Texas, and in Florida. Found in pine and deciduous forests and adjacent savannahs.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight16 - 21 Ounces

Perching-like Body

Flight feathers

Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America