Monday, January 19, 2004
AMAZONA AMAZINGA
by Layne David Dicker
Ah, the amazon parrot. Probably no bird is more representative of the order Psittaformes, which encompasses all parrots and parrot-like birds, than members of the genus Amazona. For most people, the very word "Parrot" conjures up a green, talking bird, not infrequently perched on a pirate's shoulder. But, since most of the piracy that goes on these days is internet piracy, it should come as no surprise that there is no shortage of parrot websites.
Visually, however, the image is essentially correct. For the most part, amazons are green and medium sized. When you compare amazons to their New World cousins, the Ara macaws, which vary in color from blue and yellow, to red and green and in weight from the 160 gram Hahn's to the 1400 gram Greenwing, you can see why most people get very confused with amazon taxonomy and think that all amazons pretty much look alike. Adding to this dilemma is the fact that the genus is huge; by far the largest single genus of the medium to large parrots. For instance, Parrots of the World (Forshaw & Cooper, 1977) lists 27 species and 42 sub-species of the more homogenous Amazona parrots and a mere 15 species and 10 sub-species of the diverse Ara macaws. Amazons are similarly represented in aviculture with a total of 42 species and sub-species currently being bred versus a total of 16 for the Ara macaws and 16 for the Cacatua cockatoos (Parrots in Aviculture, Low, 1992). The only genus that even comes close is Aratinga with 31 members currently being bred. But while some may wonder how the gray and turquoise Meyer's parrot and the green and orange Jardine's parrot can be so closely related, as large as the genus Amazona may be, no one ever doubts that an amazon is an amazon.
So let's get down to some amazon basics here. These birds derive their name from the general locality of their natural habitat, which is the area of central South America known as the Amazon River Basin. While the bulk of these birds thrive in this massive and lush area, they do range as far south as north/central Argentina and as far north as Mexico. In truth, they "range" even farther north than that with feral colonies being well established throughout Southern California and other cities in the United States.
With rare exception, an amazon parrot will have a green body and a short, blunt tail. Most are defined by the coloring of their head and neck (Yellow-naped, Red-lored, Lilac-crowned), or by the location of their habitat (Panama, St. Vincent's, Cuban). And then there is the combination name: The Mexican Red-headed. While all of the parrot groups contain members of different species that look similar (Blue & Gold and Caninde macaws, Sun and Jenday conures, Citron and Lesser sulphur crested cockatoos), there are large numbers of amazons that look alike.
by Layne David Dicker
Ah, the amazon parrot. Probably no bird is more representative of the order Psittaformes, which encompasses all parrots and parrot-like birds, than members of the genus Amazona. For most people, the very word "Parrot" conjures up a green, talking bird, not infrequently perched on a pirate's shoulder. But, since most of the piracy that goes on these days is internet piracy, it should come as no surprise that there is no shortage of parrot websites.
Visually, however, the image is essentially correct. For the most part, amazons are green and medium sized. When you compare amazons to their New World cousins, the Ara macaws, which vary in color from blue and yellow, to red and green and in weight from the 160 gram Hahn's to the 1400 gram Greenwing, you can see why most people get very confused with amazon taxonomy and think that all amazons pretty much look alike. Adding to this dilemma is the fact that the genus is huge; by far the largest single genus of the medium to large parrots. For instance, Parrots of the World (Forshaw & Cooper, 1977) lists 27 species and 42 sub-species of the more homogenous Amazona parrots and a mere 15 species and 10 sub-species of the diverse Ara macaws. Amazons are similarly represented in aviculture with a total of 42 species and sub-species currently being bred versus a total of 16 for the Ara macaws and 16 for the Cacatua cockatoos (Parrots in Aviculture, Low, 1992). The only genus that even comes close is Aratinga with 31 members currently being bred. But while some may wonder how the gray and turquoise Meyer's parrot and the green and orange Jardine's parrot can be so closely related, as large as the genus Amazona may be, no one ever doubts that an amazon is an amazon.
So let's get down to some amazon basics here. These birds derive their name from the general locality of their natural habitat, which is the area of central South America known as the Amazon River Basin. While the bulk of these birds thrive in this massive and lush area, they do range as far south as north/central Argentina and as far north as Mexico. In truth, they "range" even farther north than that with feral colonies being well established throughout Southern California and other cities in the United States.
With rare exception, an amazon parrot will have a green body and a short, blunt tail. Most are defined by the coloring of their head and neck (Yellow-naped, Red-lored, Lilac-crowned), or by the location of their habitat (Panama, St. Vincent's, Cuban). And then there is the combination name: The Mexican Red-headed. While all of the parrot groups contain members of different species that look similar (Blue & Gold and Caninde macaws, Sun and Jenday conures, Citron and Lesser sulphur crested cockatoos), there are large numbers of amazons that look alike.
