Yellow-crowned Amazon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Yellow-crowned Amazon | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_-Pair_at_Well_Place_Zoo.jpg/240px-Yellow-crowned_Amazon_(Amazona_ochrocephala)_-Pair_at_Well_Place_Zoo.jpg) |
||||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Amazona ochrocephala (Gmelin, 1788) |
The Yellow-crowned Amazon or Yellow-crowned Parrot (Amazona ochrocephala), is a species of parrot, native to the tropical South America and Panama. The taxonomy is highly complex, and the Yellow-headed (A. oratrix) and Yellow-naped Amazon (A. auropalliata) are often 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).
Contents |
[edit] Description
It has a total length of 33-38 cm (13-15 in). As most other Amazon parrots, it has a short squarish tail and a 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.[1] 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.[2] The amount of yellow to the head varies, with nominate, nattereri and panamensis having yellow restricted to the crown-region (occasionally with a few random feathers around the eyes[2] ), while the subspecies xantholaema has most of the head yellow.[1] All have a white eye-ring and a dark bill with a large horn or reddish spot on the upper mandible. Males and females do not differ in plumage. Except for the wing speculum, juveniles have little yellow and red to the plumage.[1]
[edit] Habitat and distribution
The Yellow-headed Parrot is found in the Amazon Basin and Guianas, with additional populations in north-western South America and Panama. It is a bird of tropical forest (both humid and dry), woodland, mangroves, savanna 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.[3]
[edit] Behaviour
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, and seeds and berries. The nest is usually in tree cavities where they lay two or three eggs.[1] The incubation time varies from 25 to 26 days. Chicks stay in the nest from 21 to 70 days.[4]
[edit] Taxonomy
The Amazona ochrocephala complex, which has been described as a "a taxonomic headache",[5] 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,[6] and the presence of members of both the nominate group and the auropalliata group in northern Honduras.[7] 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.[5][8] 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.[9] If confirmed, this would 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.[5][8] The members of this complex are known to hybridize in captivity,[5] and recent phylogenetic analysis of DNA did not support the split into three 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).[10] Disregarding the problem of northern and southern nominate being part of different clades, the following taxa are part of the Amazona ochrocephala complex:[1]
- nominate group ("true" Yellow-crowned Amazon):
- Amazona o. ochrocephala: East-central and south-eastern Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the northern and eastern Amazon Basin in Brazil.
- Amazona o. xantholaema: Marajo Island, in the Amazon River delta of north-eastern Brazil.
- Amazona o. nattereri: Far south-eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, northern Bolivia and south-western Amazon Basin of Brazil (east to around Mato Grosso). Often included in A. o. ochrocephala.[4]
- Amazona o. panamensis: Western Panama to north-western Colombia.
- auropalliata group (Yellow-naped Amazon):
- Amazona a./o. auropalliata: Southern Mexico to north-western Costa Rica.
- Amazona a./o. parvipes: Mosquito Coast in eastern Honduras and north-eastern Nicaragua.
- Amazona a./o. caribaea: Bay Islands, Honduras.
- oratrix group (Yellow-headed Amazon):
- Amazona o. oratrix: Pacific and Gulf slopes of Mexico.
- Amazona o. tresmariae: Tres Marías Islands, off west-central Mexico.
- Amazona o. belizensis: Belize.
- Amazona o. hondurensis: Sula Valley, Honduras.
Of these, hondurensis was only recently described,[11] while the population in north-western Honduras and adjacent eastern Guatemala (near Puerto Barrios) resembles belizensis and commonly is included in that subspecies, but may actually represent an undescribed subspecies. It has sometimes been referred to as guatemalensis,[1] but until officially described, the name remains provisional. An additional subspecies, magma, has sometimes been recognized for the population on the Gulf slope of Mexico, but today most authorities considered it invalid, instead including this population in oratrix.[5][4][12]
[edit] 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 2 of CITES.[13] It occurs in numerous protected areas, and remains faily common throughout a large part of its range.[2][3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Juniper, T., & M. Parr. 1998. A Guide to the Parrots of the World. Pica Press, East Sussex. ISBN 1-873403-40-2
- ^ a b c Steven Hilty (2003). Birds of Venezuela, 2nd edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02131-7.
- ^ a b Schulenberg, T., D. Stotz, D. Lane, J. O'Neill, & T. Parker III. 2007. Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-7136-8673-9
- ^ a b c 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
- ^ a b c d e Steve N. G. Howell and Sophie Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
- ^ Binford, L. 1989. A distributional survey of the birds of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Orn. Monographs. 43: 1-418.
- ^ Monroe, B., 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.
- ^ a b Lousada, S., & S. Howell. 1996. Distribution, variation, and conservation of Yellow-headed Parrots in northern Central America. Cotinga 5: 46-53.
- ^ Lousada, S. 1989. Amazona auropalliata caribaea: A new subspecies of parrot from the Bay Islands, northern Honduras. Bull. BOC 109: 232-235.
- ^ Eberhard, J., & E. Bermingham. 2004. Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Amazona ochrocephala (Aves: Psittacidae) Complex. Auk 121(2): 318-332
- ^ 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.
- ^ Clements, J. 2007. The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World. Christopher Helm. ISBN 9780713686951
- ^ CITES listings. Retrieved on 2 February 2008
- BirdLife International (2004). Amazona ochrocephala. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 23 July 2007. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.
[edit] External links
- Photos of the Yellow-crowned Amazon. Mangoverde.com.
