Yellow-crowned amazon

The yellow-crowned amazon or yellow-crowned parrot (Amazona ochrocephala) is a species of parrot native to tropical South America, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. The taxonomy is highly complex and the yellow-headed (A. oratrix) and yellow-naped amazon (A. auropalliata) are sometimes considered subspecies of the yellow-crowned amazon. Except in the taxonomic section, the following deals only with the nominate group (including subspecies xantholaema, nattereri and panamensis).They are found in the Amazon basin.

Yellow-crowned amazon
At Well Place Zoo, England
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Species:
A. ochrocephala
Binomial name
Amazona ochrocephala
(Gmelin, 1788)

Description
Pet parrot

Subspecies in the nominate group (including subspecies xantholaema, nattereri and panamensis) have a total length of 33–38 cm (13–15 in). As most other amazon parrots, it has a short squarish tail and primarily green plumage. It has dark blue tips to the secondaries and primaries and a red wing speculum, carpal edge (leading edge of the wing at the "shoulder") and base of the outer tail feathers.[2] The red and dark blue sections are often difficult to see when the bird is perched, while the red base of the outer tail feathers only infrequently can be seen under normal viewing conditions in the wild.[3] The amount of yellow to the head varies, with the nominate, nattereri and panamensis having yellow restricted to the crown-region (occasionally with a few random feathers around the eyes),[3] while the subspecies xantholaema has most of the head yellow.[2] All have a white eye-ring. They have a dark bill with a large horn (gray) or reddish spot on the upper mandible, except panamensis, which has a horn-colored beak. Males and females do not differ in plumage. Except for the wing speculum, juveniles have little yellow and red to the plumage.[2]

Habitat and distribution

The yellow-crowned amazon is found in the Amazon basin and Guianas, with additional populations in northwestern South America and Panama. It has been introduced to Grand Cayman. It is a bird of tropical forests (both humid and dry), woodlands, mangroves, and savannas and may also be found on cultivated land and suburban areas. In the southern part of its range, it is rarely found far from the Amazon rainforest. It is mainly a lowland bird, but has locally been recorded up to 800 m (2600 ft) along on the eastern slopes of the Andes.[4] Introduced–and apparently breeding–populations have been reported in Puerto Rico.[5]

Behaviour

Food and feeding

They are normally found in pairs or small flocks up to 30, but larger groups may gather at clay licks. Their food includes fruits, nuts, seeds and berries.[6] Foods with sugar and a large amount of salt can be dangerous for them.

Breeding

The nest is in a hollow in a tree, palm or termitarium, where they lay two to three eggs.[2] The incubation time is about 26 days and the chicks leave the nest about 60 days from hatching.[6][7]

Taxonomy
A. o. ochrocephala

The Amazona ochrocephala complex, which has been described as "a taxonomic headache",[8] is considered a single species by some authorities and split into three species, A. ochrocephala (yellow-crowned amazon), A. auropalliata (yellow-naped amazon) and A. oratrix (yellow-headed amazon), by others. The split is mainly based on the amount of yellow in the plumage, the color of the legs and bill, the close proximity of the oratrix group and auropalliata group in Oaxaca, Mexico, without apparent interbreeding[9] and the presence of members of both the nominate group and the auropalliata group in northern Honduras.[10] This evaluation has, however, been confused by misunderstandings regarding the plumage variations in the populations in northern Honduras, where birds vary greatly in amount of yellow on the head, crown and nape, but have pale bills and a juvenile plumage matching the oratrix group, but neither the nominate nor the auropalliata group.[8][11] The taxon caribaea from the Bay Islands is a member of the auropalliata group, and occurs in relatively close proximity to the members of the oratrix group. As caribaea may have a relatively pale lower mandible, this could indicating a level of gene flow between this and the nearby taxa of the oratrix group.[12] If confirmed, this could suggest that the two are better considered conspecific. Alternatively, it has been suggested that caribaea and parvipes, both typically placed in the auropalliata group, may be closer to the oratrix than they are to the auropalliata sensu stricto. Both are relatively small and have red to the shoulder as in the members of the oratrix group, but unlike auropalliata sensu stricto.[8][11]

The members of this complex are known to hybridize in captivity[8] and recent phylogenetic analysis of DNA did not support the split into the three "traditional" biological species, but did reveal three clades, which potentially could be split into three phylogenetic species: a Mexican and Central American species (incl. panamensis, which extends slightly into South America), a species of northern South America (northern nominate), and a species from the southern Amazon basin (nattereri, xantholaema and southern nominate).[13] The Central American clade can potentially be split further, with panamensis and tresmariae recognized as two monotypic species. The members of the clade from the southern Amazon basin should arguably be included as subspecies of the blue-fronted amazon, as they are closer to each other than to the northern clades.[13][14][15] Disregarding these problems, the following taxa are part of the Amazona ochrocephala complex as traditionally delimited:[2]

Of these, hondurensis was only recently described,[16] while the population in northwestern Honduras and adjacent eastern Guatemala (near Puerto Barrios) resembles belizensis and is commonly included in that subspecies, but may actually represent an undescribed subspecies. It has sometimes been referred to as guatemalensis,[2] but until it is officially described, the name remains provisional. An additional subspecies, magna, has sometimes been recognized for the population on the Gulf slope of Mexico, but today most authorities consider it invalid, instead including this population in oratrix.[6][8][17]

Conservation

The yellow-crowned amazon is considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International, and consequently, also by IUCN. Although populations are believed to be in decline, they do not yet approach the threshold specified by BirdLife International to rate the species as near threatened. As is the case with most parrots, it is listed on appendix II of CITES.[18] It occurs in numerous protected areas and remains fairly common throughout a large part of its range.[3][4]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Amazona ochrocephala". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Juniper, T., & M. Parr. 1998. A Guide to the Parrots of the World. Pica Press, East Sussex. ISBN 1-873403-40-2
  3. Steven Hilty (2003). Birds of Venezuela (2nd ed.). Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02131-7.
  4. Schulenberg, T.; Stotz, D.; Lane, D.; O'Neill, J.; Parker, T., III (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-7136-8673-9.
  5. Falcón, Wilfredo; Tremblay, Raymond L. (2018). "From the cage to the wild: Introductions of Psittaciformes to Puerto Rico". PeerJ. 6:e5669: 1–26. doi:10.7717/peerj.5669. PMC 6214232. PMID 30397538. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. Collar, N. 1997. Amazona ochrocephala (Yellow-crowned parrot). Pp 473-474 in: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott & J. Sargatal. Eds. 1997. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 4. Sangrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-22-9
  7. Alderton, David (2003). The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Caged and Aviary Birds. London, England: Hermes House. p. 231. ISBN 1-84309-164-X.
  8. Steve N. G. Howell & Sophie Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
  9. Binford, L. (1989). A distributional survey of the birds of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Ornithological Monographs. 43: 1–418.
  10. Monroe, B., Monroe, JR. & T. Howell. (1966). Geographic variation in Middle American parrots of the Amazona ochrocephala complex. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, no. 34. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.
  11. Lousada, S., & S. Howell. 1996. Distribution, variation, and conservation of Yellow-headed Parrots in northern Central America. Cotinga 5: 46-53.
  12. Lousada, S. 1989. Amazona auropalliata caribaea: A new subspecies of parrot from the Bay Islands, northern Honduras. Bull. BOC 109: 232-235.
  13. Eberhard, J., & E. Bermingham. 2004. Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Amazona ochrocephala (Aves: Psittacidae) Complex. Auk 121(#2): 318-332
  14. Russello, M. A., & Amato, G. (2004). A molecular phylogeny of Amazona: implications for Neotropical parrot biogeography, taxonomy, and conservation. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 30(#2): 421-437
  15. Ribas, C. C., Tavares, E. S., Yoshihara, C., & Miyaki C. Y. (2007). Phylogeny and biogeography of yellow-headed and blue-fronted parrots (Amazona ochrocephala and Amazona aestiva) with special reference to the South American taxa. Ibis 149: 564-574
  16. Lousada, S., & S. Howell. 1997. Amazona oratrix hondurensis: A new subspecies of parrot from the Sula Valley of northern Honduras. Bull. BOC 117: 203-223.
  17. Clements, J. 2007. The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World. Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7136-8695-1
  18. CITES listings. Retrieved on 2 February 2008
  • Photos - Mangoverde World Bird Guide
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