The Yellow parrot or to give them their correct name, the Yellow Headed Amazon parrot originates from Mexico where they populate the coastal regions as well as below Mexico in Honduras, Guatemala and Belize. They have a green body with red markings on each wing and an impressive yellow head which makes them a popular pet choice due to their attractive coloring. They are most comfortable in areas where there are trees available for nesting such as tropical or subtropical forests, mangrove swamps and savannahs. These parrots are unfortunately on the endangered species list as their numbers have dwindled due to the deforestation of their natural habitat and illegal poaching.
Yellow headed Amazons that are bred in captivity are freely available as pets even though they can be expensive. As well as their striking colors they are a popular parrot to own because of their vocal abilities. They are considered a close runner up to the African Grey species which is widely held as the number one talker in the world of parrots. As with many parrots, all Amazon’s have the ability to talk but not all of them actually do, this depends on each individual bird where some birds will never talk and others turn out to be great talkers. Many consider Yellow headed Amazons to be the loudest of all Amazons and being playful birds they like to receive attention from their owners and families by being loud. This loud squawking or screeching however can be trained out of the parrot with human speech training which most owners opt to do. Overall they are very active, humorous and intelligent parrots but like most large parrot species they can be destructive which is why it is recommended that owners buy quite a few chewable toys and branches. Yellow headed Amazon’s are happiest when their environment allows them to move around and fly, so an aviary is an ideal environment but an indoor cage can suffice as long as the parrot receives plenty of exercise each day. Yellow headed Amazon’s have been found to be easy to train and tame.
On average they grow to a length of about 15 inches with the female being slightly smaller than the male. Their beaks are strong, thickset and hooked which they use for cracking the shells of nuts and seeds which are extremely strong. As with most parrots they also use their beak for climbing exploring and holding objects. Amazons’ feet have 2 toes pointing backwards and 2 toes pointing forwards and they use them not only for climbing but also as a hand to hold objects especially food when they are eating.
As with all parrots their nutrition is a very important contributor to their health and happiness and in the wild they live on a diet of leaf buds, fruits, blossoms, berries and nuts and occasionally maize. It is important that owners in a home environment feed their Yellow headed Amazon a variety of fresh produce both fruit and vegetables as well as seeds, berries nuts and pellet food.
Yellow headed Amazons generally have a lifespan of between 60 to 80 years so if they are to be considered as a pet this long term commitment must be fully realized and understood but as pets these birds offer an amazing bond and relationship with their owners as well as countless hours of pleasure and entertainment.
