The Yucatan amazon (''Amazona xantholora''), also known as the yellow-lored amazon, Yucatan parrot or yellow-lored parrot is a species of bird in subfamily

Arinae The neotropical parrots or New World parrots comprise about 150 species in 32 genera found throughout South America, South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean islands and the southern United States. Among them are some of the most familia ...

of the family

Psittacidae The Family (biology), family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the 12 species of subfamily Psittacinae (the Afrotropics, Afrotropical parrots) and 167 of subfamily Arinae (the New World or ...

, the African and New World parrots. It is found in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

.Chesser, R. T., S. M. Billerman, K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, B. E. Hernández-Baños, R. A. Jiménez, A. W. Kratter, N. A. Mason, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, and K. Winker. 2022. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. https://checklist.aou.org/taxa

Taxonomy and systematics

The Yucatan amazon is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Description

The Yucatan amazon is long and weighs . It is mostly green. Adult males are chrome yellow on their lores and the sides of their forehead; the rest of the forehead and most of their crown are white. The area around and behind their eye is red and their ear coverts are dusky. Their rear crown is greenish blue, their nape green, and the rest of their upperparts and their underparts are yellowish green. Most of the body feathers have black edges that give a scalloped appearance. Their middle pair of tail feathers are green with pale yellowish green tips, the next pair are yellowish green with a yellow base and a red streak near the base, and the rest have progressively more red replacing the yellowish green. Their wing's leading edge and primary coverts are red, the outermost

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

are green with blue towards the end, and the rest of their primaries and their secondaries are rich blue. Their iris is orange surrounded by bare white skin and their bill and legs are yellow. Adult females differ from males with a greenish blue forehead and crown, paler yellow lores, very little red on the face, traces of duskiness on the ear coverts, and green primary coverts.Wade, M. and C. K. Ghalambor (2020). Yellow-lored Parrot (''Amazona xantholora''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yelpar1.01 retrieved March 1, 2023

Distribution and habitat

The Yucatan amazon is found throughout the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

in the states of

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...

Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...

, and

Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...

and slightly into northern Belize. A significant population also resides on Isla Cozumel. A specimen was collected in 1947 on the Honduran island of

Roatán Roatán () is an island in the Caribbean, about off the northern coast of Honduras. The largest of the Bay Islands Department, Bay Islands of Honduras, it is located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja. It is approximately long, and le ...

and there are a few eBird records from there and many from northern Guatemala. The species is found in the interior and edges of deciduous and

semi-deciduous Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical wood ...

forest, both

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and secondary, and also in pine savannah. It elevation it ranges from sea level up to about .

Behavior

Flocking

Flocks of thirty or more typically move together between roosting and foraging sites, and roosts may contain 1500 individuals.

Feeding

The Yucatan amazon's diet has not been studied, but is assumed to include seeds, fruits, flowers, nuts, legumes, and crops like the diet of the white-fronted amazon (''A. albifrons'').

Breeding

The Yucatan amazon's breeding season has not been fully described but appears to include March to May. It nests in hollows in trees or stumps. The clutch size is four or five eggs and the incubation period is 22 to 28 days. The time to fledging and details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The Yucatan amazon is highly vocal except when feeding. A characteristic call by pairs is a barking "''rek-rek-rek-rek'' or ''rek-rek rek-rek rrehr''". Other calls include "a rolled ''reeeah-h'' and ''kyeh-kyeh keeei-i-iirr'', and screechy ''ree-o-rak zeek ree-o-rah''."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the Yucatan amazon as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and an estimated population of between 20,000 and 50,000 mature individuals, though the latter is believed to be decreasing. Logging and the pet trade are identified as potential threats. "Large-scale development of vacation properties also threatens to destroy and fragment remaining tropical deciduous forests along Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula." File:Goldzuegelamazone.JPG, Pet File:Amazona xantholora -Xcaret Eco Park -Mexico-8a.jpg, Female at Xcaret Park

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1048537 Yucatan amazon Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of the Caribbean Birds of Belize Least concern biota of North America Yucatan amazon Yucatan amazon Taxonomy articles created by Polbot