Yellow Headed Parrots

Amazona Oratrix or better known as Yellow Headed Parrots are a type of bird, just like other birds these parrots are in the reptile animal class. Yellow headed parrots have also been nicknamed the “talking parrots” for their ability to copy and learn words.

These unique animals have distinct coloring on them. They have a green body with a yellow head and some red and blue on each wing. When they are born their colors appear very light and some wings colorings may be missing but their colors will appear or get darker when they reach 3-5 years old.These Parrots are typically 15 to 17 inches from the tip of their beak to the tip of their tail and can live to the very old age of 60-90 years.

Yellow Headed Parrots may appear to be very light but they are heavier than a typical bird but their weight depends on what they eat and the amount of exercise that they are getting.

Yellow Headed Parrots usually live in tropical places such as tropical and subtropical forests, mangrove swamps, savannas and coastal shrubs. They like to live in nests or in hollow cavities out of the trunk of a tree. Yellow Headed Parrots are omnivores which means that they can eat both plants and meat, however these birds typically only eat fresh fruits and vegetables along with seeds. Seeds are a Yellow Headed Parrots favorite food.

They have a very strong jaw which they use especially for getting seeds out of shells or seedpods. If they choose to they can eat other meats and insects along with an occasional table food or a treat but they can only be offered a little bit because they cannot say no to treats themselves. Yellow Headed Parrots are more of a predator when they choose to eat small animals or insects. While they do not have many animals that are predators to them, they are currently endangered because so many humans are cutting down forests which takes away their homes. There are few yellow headed parrots left in Mexico due to deforestation. A large number of Yellow Headed Parrots were also being illegally captured and illegally smuggled out of Central America to be sold but only 10% of them usually end up surviving the journey to the markets which means that 90% die along the way. All of these parrots that are still alive in the wild currently live in Belize. Wildlife specialists are saying that only around 300 yellow headed parrots are left in the wold but they have not been able to get an exact head count. The people of Belize have created many wildlife sanctuaries to help these yellow headed parrots not go completely extinct.

Did You Know that Yellow Headed Parrots can copy human words? Sometimes these talented parrots can learn to say many things. In Terry Hoffer’s case, his parrot learned to say “come on in” which has lead him to some very embarrassing moments.“The most embarrassing incident occurred one day when I was alone in the house. I had just stepped out of the shower and clad only in a towel, I walked into the living room. There on the couch, sat my in-laws! I don’t know who was more shocked! They said that they had heard my wife yell. “Come on in!” They just came in and sat down figuring that she must be in the kitchen and would come in momentarily. It was only when they saw me that they realized that she wasn’t even home and it must have been the bird! I don’t know how long they had been sitting there” (Terry Hoffer)

Try our parrot word search puzzle here.