| Amazon parrots | |
|---|---|
| A Red-spectacled Amazon upright and a Yellow-shouldered Amazon eating at Palmitos Park, Spain | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Psittacidae |
| Subfamily: | Psittacinae |
| Tribe: | Arini |
| Genus: | Amazona Lesson, 1830 |
The Amazon parrots are about 30 species of parrots that comprise the genus Amazona. They are native to the New World, ranging from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean. Amazon parrots range in size from medium to large, and have relatively short, rather square tails. They are predominantly green, with accenting colors that are quite vivid in some species.
The taxonomy of the Yellow-crowned Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala complex) is disputed, with some authorities listing only a single species (A. ochrocephala), and others splitting it into as many as three species (A. ochrocephala, A. auropalliata and A. oratrix).[1][2][3] The Yellow-faced Parrot, Alipiopsitta xanthops, was traditionally placed within the Amazon parrot genus, but recent research has shown that it is more closely related to the Short-tailed Parrot and species from the genus Pionus; as a result, it has been transferred to the monotypic genus Alipiopsitta.[4][5]
Two extinct species have been postulated, based on limited evidence.[6][7] They are the †Martinique Amazon (Amazona martinica)[8][9] and the †Guadeloupe Amazon (Amazona violacea).[6][10][11] Amazon parrots were described living on Guadeloupe by Jean-Baptiste Du Tertre in 1667 and by Jean-Baptiste Labat in 1742, and they were called Psittacus violaceus at that time. Labat also described Amazon parrots living on Martinique. There are no specimens or remains of either island population, so their taxonomy may never be fully elucidated. Their status as separate species is unproven and they are regarded as hypothetical extinct species.[6]
| Species of Amazon parrots in taxonomic sequence | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Common and binomial names[7] | Image | Description | Range |
| Cuban Amazon or Rose-throated Amazon (Amazona leucocephala) |
28–33 cm (11–13 in) long, mostly green, white on face, pink throat, brownish on belly.[12] | Cuba, The Bahamas, and Cayman Islands[13][14] | |
| Yellow-billed Amazon (Amazona collaria) |
28 cm (11 in) long, mostly green, white face markings and white forehead, blue forecrown, pink throat and upper breast, bluish primaries, yellow bill[15] | Jamaica[16] | |
| Hispaniolan Amazon (Amazona ventralis) |
28–31 cm (11–12 in) long, mostly green, white forehead, blue flight feathers, maroon belly and red in the tail feathers.[17] | Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands[18] | |
| Puerto Rican Amazon (Amazona vittata) |
28–30 cm (11–12 in) long, mostly green, red forehead, white eyerings.[19] | Archipelago of Puerto Rico[20] | |
| Yellow-lored Amazon (Amazona xantholora) |
Mostly green, blue on crown and yellow on sides of face, horn coloured beak | Belize, Honduras, and Mexico[21][22] | |
| White-fronted Amazon (Amazona albifrons) |
25 cm (10 in) long, mostly green, white forehead with blue on the crown, red on sides of face. Sexual dimorphism: males have bright red feathers on their shoulders, while females have green shoulders | Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico; Nicaragua[23][24] | |
| Black-billed Amazon (Amazona agilis) |
25 cm (10 in) long, mostly green with small patches of red on the wing and sometimes flecked with red on the head, black beak[25] | Jamaica[26] | |
| Tucuman Parrot (Amazona tucumana) |
31 cm (12 in) long, mostly green with feathers of the upper-body being green with black margins. Red plumage on forehead and fore-crown, and the red does not extend around the white eye-rings. Red primary wing feathers with no red at the bend of the wing. They have orange thighs and red at base of a green tail.[27] | Argentina and Bolivia[28][29] | |
| Red-spectacled Amazon (Amazona pretrei) |
32 cm (12.5 in) long, mostly green with a variable extent of red on forehead, lores, and around eyes. The eyerings are white and the bill is yellowish. Red on the bend of the wings with blue tips to secondary and primary wing feathers.[30] | Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay[31] | |
| Red-crowned Amazon (Amazona viridigenalis) |
33 cm (13 in) long, mostly green, bright red forehead and crown, dark blue streaks behind the eyes, and light green cheeks, less red on the crown of the female and the juvenile[32] | Native to Mexico, introduced to Puerto Rico and United States[33] | |
| Lilac-crowned Amazon (Amazona finschi) |
30.5–34.5 cm (12–14 in) long, mostly green, a maroon forehead, and violet-blue crown[34] | NW to SW Mexico[34][35][36] | |
| Red-lored Amazon (Amazona autumnalis) |
32–35 cm (13 in) long, mostly green, red forehead and in some subspecies yellow cheeks (sometimes with red spots), blue crown | Central and South America[37][38] | |
| Blue-cheeked Amazon or Dufresne's Amazon (Amazona dufresniana) |
34 cm (13.5 in) long, mostly green, with blue cheeks | French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and possibly in northern Brazil[39][40] | |
| Red-browed Amazon (Amazona rhodocorytha) |
35 cm (14 in) long, mostly green, red forehead fading to browning-purple on the crown, orange lores and yellow below lores, bluish to violet cheeks and throat.[41] | East Brazil[42][43] | |
| Red-tailed Amazon (Amazona brasiliensis) |
37 cm (14.4 in) long, mostly green, red forehead fading to purple on the crown. Blue throat, cheeks and over ears. Red in tail feathers[44] | SE Brazil[42][45] | |
| Festive Amazon (Amazona festiva) |
Mostly green, red forehead, deep blue outer wing feathers, red rump | Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela[46][47] | |
| Yellow-shouldered Amazon (Amazona barbadensis) |
33 cm (13 in) long, mostly green, white forehead and lores, yellow crown and ear-coverts, bare white eye rings. Yellow chin and shoulders. Some red and dark blue in the wing feathers.[48] | Netherlands Antilles, Venezuela[49] | |
| Blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva) |
38 cm (15 in) long, mostly green, blue forehead and yellow on the face | Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina.[50][51] | |
| Yellow-crowned Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala) |
33–38 cm (13–15 in) long, mostly green, extent of the yellow on the head varies between subspecies. | South America and Panama[52][53] | |
| Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata) |
Mostly green, yellow band across the lower nape and hindneck | Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua.[54][55] | |
| Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix) |
35–38 cm (14–15 in) long, mostly green, yellow head[56] | Belize, Guatemala, Mexico.[57] | |
| Kawall's Amazon (Amazona kawalli) |
|
Large and mostly green. White skin at base of bill | Brazil[58][59] |
| Orange-winged Amazon (Amazona amazonica) |
33 cm (13 in) long, mostly green, blue and yellow feathers on head which varies in extent between individuals. The upper mandible is partly horn coloured and partly dark-grey. It has orange feathers in the wings and tail | South America[60][61] | |
| Scaly-naped Amazon (Amazona mercenaria) |
Mostly green | Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela[62][63] | |
| Mealy Amazon (Amazona farinosa) |
38–41 cm (15–16 in) long, mostly green. The extent of yellow and green on the forehead and crown varies between the subspecies. | Mexico, and Central and South America[64][65] | |
| Vinaceous Amazon (Amazona vinacea) |
30 cm (12 in) long, mostly green, red forehead, bluish nape, vinous-maroon breast[66] | Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay[67] | |
| St. Lucia Amazon (Amazona versicolor) |
43 cm (17 in) long, mostly green, blue face and forehead, red breast becoming maroon and mottled on lower breast and belly[68] | Saint Lucia[69] | |
| Red-necked Amazon (Amazona arausiaca) |
40 cm (16 in) long, mostly green, blue forehead and face, white bare eyerings, red patch on throat (sometimes absent)[70] | Dominica[71] | |
| St. Vincent Amazon (Amazona guildingii) |
40 cm (16 in) long, mostly green, multi-colored amazon parrot with a yellowish white, blue and green head, greenish-bronze upperparts, grey feet, orange irises, and violet blue-green wings and tail feathers. There is a yellow-brown morph and a less common green morph.[72] | Caribbean island of Saint Vincent in the Lesser Antilles[73] | |
| Imperial Amazon (Amazona imperialis) |
45 cm (18 in) long, mostly green, purple neck, green-tipped red tail and purple below.[74] | Dominica[74] | |
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