The amazon parrots are 33 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 colours 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]
In 2017 a study published by ornithologists Tony Silva, Antonio Guzmán, Adam D. Urantówka and Paweł Mackiewicz proposed a new species for the Yucatan Peninsula area (Mexico), being this named blue-winged amazon (Amazona gomezgarzai).[12] However, subsequent studies question its validity, indicating that these organisms possibly had an artificial hybrid origin.[13]
31 cm (12 in) long, mostly green with feathers of the upper body being green with black margins. Red plumage on the forehead and forecrown, and the red does not extend around the white eye rings. Red primary wing feathers with no red at the bend of the wing. Orange thighs and red at the base of a green tail.[18]
32 cm (12.5 in) long, mostly green with a variable extent of red on the forehead, lores, and around the eyes. The eye rings are white and the bill is yellowish. Red on the bend of the wings with blue tips to the primary and secondary wing feathers.[21]
25 cm (10 in) long, mostly green, white forehead with blue on the crown, red on the sides of the 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[25][26]
28 cm (11 in) long, mostly green, white face markings and white forehead, blue forecrown, pink throat and upper breast, bluish primaries, yellow bill.[27]
The lilacine amazon is a small parrot, approximately 34 cm long when mature, with primarily green plumage. Like the red-lored amazon, it has red lores and yellow cheeks; its distinguishing features include a fully black beak, and lilac-tipped feathers on its crown.[41][42]
Length of about 33 cm (13 in). Largely green bird with glimpses of red and black; many of the feathers are margined with contrasting colours giving a finely scalloped effect.[43]
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.[44]
Native to Mexico; introduced to Puerto Rico and the United States[45]
35 cm (14 in) long, mostly green, red forehead fading to brownish-purple on the crown, orange lores and yellow below the lores, bluish to violet cheeks and throat.[50]
35 centimetres (13.8 in) in length, are bright green with a yellow area on the forehead, and a horn-colored (gray) beak, sometimes with a dark tip, but lacking the reddish coloring on the upper mandible that is present in the nominate yellow-crowned amazon.[63]
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.[66]
33 cm (13 in) long, mostly green, blue and yellow feathers on the head which varies in extent between individuals. The upper mandible is partly horn-coloured (grey) and partly dark grey. It has orange feathers in the wings and tail.
40 cm (16 in) long, mostly green, multi-coloured 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.[81]
^Binford, L. (1989). "A distributional survey of the birds of the Mexican state of Oaxaca." Ornithological Monographs. 43: 1–418.
^Monroe, B, Monroe, JR & Howell T. (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.
^Duarte JMB and Caparroz R (1995) "Cytotaxonomic analysis of Brazilian species of the genus Amazona (Psittacidae, Aves) and confirmation of the genus Salvatoria (Ribeiro, 1920)." Brazilian Journal of Genetics18:623–628.
^Russello, M A & Amato, G (2004) "A molecular phylogeny of Amazona: implications for Neotropical parrot biogeography, taxonomy, and conservation." Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 30: 421–437.
^Escalante, Patricia; Arteaga-Rojas, Abigail Eunice; Gutiérrez-Sánchez-Rüed, Mauricio (2018). "A new species of Mexican parrot? Reasonable doubt on the status of Amazona gomezgarzai (Psittaciformes: Psittacidae)". Zootaxa. 4420 (1): 139–147. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4420.1.9. PMID30313559.