Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot: Bird Species Profile

Temperament, nutrition, and care tips

Yellow-naped Amazon parrots are intelligent animals that make excellent pets for owners looking to develop a close bond with their birds. Their remarkable language abilities make them one of the most popular Amazon parrot species. However, they are not the best bird for families with children as they have been known to go through a phase of mild aggression as they approach puberty.

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origin and history

Sometimes considered a subspecies of the yellow-crested Amazon Parrot, these birds are native to the Pacific parts of Central and northern South America. They live mainly in southern Mexico and northwestern Costa Rica.

There are two known subspecies of the Yellow-Naped Amazon. The Honduran Yellow-Naped Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala parvipes) lives in Honduras, the Bay Islands, and parts of Nicaragua. The Roatan Yellow-Naped Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala caribae) is also native to northern Honduras and the island of Roatan.

Like many exotic house parrots, this species is critically endangered in the wild. They are threatened by deforestation and illegal trapping.

Species Overview

COMMON NAMES: Yellow-naped parrot, golden-naped Amazon

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Amazona ochrocephala auropalliata

ADULT SIZE: 12 to 15 inches, weighing about 1 pound

LIFE EXPECTANCY: 50 to 60 years or longer with the proper care; some reach the age of 70 and even 90 years old

temperament

Yellow-Naped Amazons are happy and funny birds that like to be the center of attention. They tend to form very close bonds with their owners.

Hand-fed Amazon parrots are generally affectionate and affectionate pets. However, like many Amazons, Yellow-Naped Amazons go through a hormonal bluffing phase as they approach sexual maturity (4 months to 1 year of age). This phase can sometimes last up to two years.

During their bluffing phase, yellow-Naped Amazons may bite and display other aggressive behaviors. This is more evident in the males, and some birds act more than others. This is why you should consider a female parrot. In general, a young or adolescent Amazon is not the best bird for families with children.

language and vocalizations

These parrots may not caw as much as others, but they do get very loud at times. However, they are excellent speakers and singers. You can train these birds to develop a fairly large vocabulary spoken with great human-like clarity, but you have to be careful what you say. They are also known to pick up on (and relentlessly remember) certain phrases that the bird would prefer to forget.

Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot Colors and Markings

Yellow-Naped Amazons are usually light green in color. Their name comes from a yellow blaze on the underside of the nape along the back of the neck. Another yellow patch often appears on the forehead and crown, and they have red streaks in the wing plumage. These birds have gray to black beaks and feet.

There is an extraordinary color mutation in this bird. Its main plumage is blue-green with a darker turquoise on the wings and a white patch on the nape. They are rare and have a high price in the bird world.

Males and females look very similar. To tell the two sexes apart, your bird would need to be genetically tested or have sex determined surgically. DNA testing is the least invasive method and can be purchased cheaply online.

Caring for a Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot

Yellow-Naped Amazon parrots are best suited to experienced bird keepers. They need a lot of attention and you should set aside some time each day when you are alone with your bird. This socialization is key to building and maintaining a healthy bond.

These birds thrive on social interaction and need it to stay healthy and happy. Neglected birds can fall into destructive behavior patterns and depression. Depression or anxiety can lead to physical and emotional problems that include plucking feathers and biting people.

For these reasons, you should inquire about the history of an adult bird you wish to adopt. Bad habits, past trauma, and insufficient training can result in a parrot that even the best ornithologists find difficult to rehabilitate.

Prospective owners should remember that when they adopt a Yellow-Naped Amazon, they are caring for a creature that is every bit as intelligent and emotional as a human child. Due to their long lifespan, caring for animals is a task that should not be underestimated.

Make sure you provide a suitable cage for this bird, at least 3 square meters. The bird may look small, but it still needs space to move and play. Keep the bird busy when you’re not around by outfitting the cage with ladders, perches, and interactive toys.

Diet and Nutrition

In the wild, Amazon parrots feed on a wide variety of seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, and vegetation.

Like all Amazon parrots, Yellow-Naped Amazons are prone to obesity in captivity. Not only can obesity shave years off a bird’s life, but it can also lead to tumors and other serious health problems. Provide your bird with a healthy diet, limit high-fat foods like seeds and nuts, and give them daily exercise.

Yellow-Naped Amazons thrive best on a high-quality pelleted diet supplemented with a seed mix. Daily servings of fresh fruit and vegetables suitable for birds will ensure your bird is getting the right balance of vitamins and nutrients it needs. Feed about 1/3 to 1/2 cups of pelleted food and 1/3 to 1/2 cups of fresh fruits and vegetables daily. A raw and varied diet will help ensure your bird gets maximum nutrients.

General health problems

Amazons are relatively healthy and long-lived birds, but they are susceptible to the following diseases:

Feather pecking, usually the result of neglect or lack of mental/physical stimulation
Psittacosis, also called parrot fever, is an infection caused by chlamydia bacteria
Poor eating habits and obesity can be prevented with a healthy, balanced diet and regular daily exercise

exercise

A Yellow-Naped Amazon needs at least 3 hours a day outside of the cage to burn off excess calories and stretch its muscles. This activity will help prevent weight gain and also provide the bird with some much-needed mental stimulation.

Because these birds are intelligent and prone to boredom, you should provide plenty of activities to keep your bird busy. You can teach a Yellow-Naped Amazon some tricks or give her puzzle toys to keep her brain active. Provide toys that encourage the parrot to chew and help burn off energy in its cage.

Pros

• Social, affectionate, loyal
• Intelligent, a great mimic and talker

Cons

• Can get loud
• May have a biting, aggressive period during its adolescence

Where to buy or adopt a yellow-Naped parrot?

Before you buy a Yellow-headed Amazon from a bird store or from a breeder, you should check with animal shelters and rescue organizations. They can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 from a breeder. Online resources can point you in the right direction to breeders or rescue centers:

• bird breeders
• birds now
• Adopt a pet

When buying from a breeder, you should interview the breeder, observe the general health of the birds, check living conditions, and speak to previous customers. Signs to avoid in a breeder include cramped living conditions, inactive birds, and breeders who dodge your questions or don’t seem to know much about their birds.

How to train a parrot to speak

Like humans, parrots are vocal learners in the sense that they understand sounds by listening to them and then imitating them.

• So you should raise your parrot like a child.
• Repeat the sounds and praise them when they do something right. Your parrot will know when he’s happy with you and will want to do it again.
• Parrot expert Steve Hartman says, “You should talk to your parrot regularly. Constant and consistent verbal communication will help your bird grow into an intelligent, independent, and confident individual.
• Explain what you’re doing: when you’re cleaning the cage, cooking dinner, or watching TV.”

You will find that a baby parrot stutters like a child. When the child says “Da-da” or “Mum-mum”, the parents rejoice and the child learns. So you should think of the process as if you were teaching a child to speak.

Speak in your parrot’s language

Some handlers try to use parrot language; that’s almost impossible. Try it yourself. I have a comm whistle with my Grays. I’ve tried it with a few macaws but not with much success.

It is a myth that whistling with the parrot keeps it from speaking. But why would they copy human language? Peer pressure, as it turned out. Parrots naturally try to adapt, both to other parrots and to other people. In the wild, parrots use their vocal abilities to share important information with the flock. In a human family, a parrot will attempt to communicate with its large, sometimes frightening, flightless members.

When will my parrot start talking?

• Parrots start speaking English from three months to one year of age.
• Parrots that already speak will increase their vocabulary over the course of their lives if given the right opportunities.

When you buy a baby parrot, one born in the nest will have spoken to its parents. In my opinion, a parrot that can communicate well in its parrot language has a better basis for acquiring human language.

It has been suggested, although not proven, that the offspring of talking parrots can inherit this ability.

A word of warning at this point. Some parrots, even Asher, and Amazons do not learn human speech, and you should be prepared that your fun, lovable little acrobatic animal may never speak English. If you insist on a talking parrot, it might be better to buy one that already talks.