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To the Beauty of Birds

The Yellow-headed Amazon Amazona oratrix, also known as the Yellow-headed Parrot and Double Yellow-headed Amazon, is an endangered amazon parrot of Mexico and northern Central America. Measuring 38–43 centimetres (15–17 in) in length. It is a stocky short-tailed green parrot with a yellow head. It prefers to live in mangrove forests or forests near rivers or other bodies of water. It is a popular pet and an excellent talker. Poaching for the international pet trade has driven the species to near-extinction in the wild; around half of all wild-caught birds are thought to die in the process. The yellow-headed amazon is CITES I listed, and there are legal restrictions on its trade and ownership, including a certification system.

The origin of the common epithet "double yellow-headed" is that this species is differentiated from the others in the yellow-headed amazon complex by possessing both the yellow nape and yellow crown of its two close relatives, hence a "double-yellow" head.

The Yellow-headed Amazon Parrot has the shape typical of amazons, with a robust build, rounded wings, and a square tail. The body is bright green, with yellow on the head, dark scallops on the neck, red at the bend of the wing, and yellow thighs. The flight feathers are blackish to bluish violet with a red patch on the outer secondaries. The base of the tail also has a red patch, which is usually hidden. The outer tail feathers have yellowish tips.

The bill is horn-colored (gray). The eye ring is whitish in Mexican birds and grayish in others. The most conspicuous geographical difference is the amount of yellow.

The popularity of Yellow-headed Amazons as a pet continues to fuel poaching efforts, which have nearly driven it to extinction in the wild. Their wild population has declined from 70,000 to 7,000 in the past two decades alone. An estimated 40-60% of poached yellow-headed amazons die before they are sold.

Though only captive-bred Yellow-headed Amazons may be owned, these are widely available (if somewhat expensive) and their personalities make them highly desirable pets; they have been kept as such for centuries because they are among the parrots that "talk" best.

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