Double Yellow-headed Amazon

Family: Psittacidae

Scientific name: Amazona oratrix (Previously: Amazona ochrocephala oratrix)

Description:
The Double Yellow-headed Amazon is generally green with paler, more yellowish on the under parts. The entire head and throat are yellow and the bend of the wing is red with some yellow mixed in. The carpal edge and thighs are yellow. The ring around the eye is unfeathered and white. The iris of the eye is orange and the beak is horned colored turning grey towards the base on the upper mandible. The immature bird (as shown above) has only a patch of yellow on the forehead and less red at the bend of the wing.

Care and feeding:
The amazon's main diet should primarily be, nuts, seeds, fruits, and green vegetables. A commercially prepared parrot mix or pelleted diet can also be beneficial.

Distribution:
Native to Colima and Guerrero, the Pacific slope of Central Mexico, and from Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas south to eastern Oaxaco, Tabasco, and Yucatan on the Caribbean side. This basically means Mexico!

Size - Weight:
Mature birds are a bit larger than other Yellow-crowned Amazons at 16 inches (41 cm) long from the head to the tip of the tail.

Social Behaviors:
Enjoys human interaction as well as interaction with other birds. In the wild they are very social birds living in groups with the available food supply determining the size of the group. Many times though several hundred are seen in a group. They also form permanent pairs when they are sexually mature.

Breeding/Reproduction:
Double Yellow-headed Amazons are commonly bred in captivity. At the onset of warm weather (April to early May) courtship will begin. The hen will then lay two to five eggs which incubate for about 28 days. The young will leave the nest at 8-9 weeks old. As with many parrots, the male will eat for both himself and the female while she incubates the eggs and feeds the young. The male regurgitates the food for the female to eat. He gets a lot less picky about what he eats at these times!.