Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata) are also known as the Golden Yellow-naped Amazon. They are found in the Honduras, Guatamala, El Salvador, and Mexico. In the wild they live in pairs or flocks, from small groups to groups of several hundred birds. They live in tropical zones and inhabit woodlands, forests, where they feed on fruits, seeds, nuts, berries, and the blossoms and leafy buds of foliage.
The Yellow-naped Amazons are rather heavy bodied though a bit smaller than the Double Yellow-headed Amazons. Mature birds are about about 35 cm long from the head to the tip of the tail. The Yellow-naped Amazon is green from head to tail, with the underparts a bit lighter green, and the tip of the tail being a light yellowish-green. They get their name from having a bright yellow patch about the size of a quarter on the nape of their neck. Some will also have a small yellow spot on their forehead. The beak is mixture of black and horn color. The eye is orange and the feet are gray with black nails.
Yellow-naped Amazons are not sexually dimorphic, females look like males. Juveniles lack the yellow marking on the nape of the neck. Their yellow patch doesn’t actually begin to develop until they are about a year old, and then it takes up to about four years of molting to be fully colored. They reach maturity at about the 4 – 5 year range with a lifespan of 60 – 80 years.
At the onset of warm weather (April to early May) courtship will begin. The hen will then lay three to four eggs which incubate for about 26 – 28 days. The young will leave the nest at 8-12 weeks. As with many parrots, the male will eat for both himself and the female while she incubates the eggs and feeds the young.
The Yellow-naped Amazon will adapt rapidly, quickly becoming accustomed to a new environment and its keeper. It is then ready to start bird training. Generally though, you should give a new arrival a few days to get use to you, your voice and its cage before trying to handle it. These birds are very good talkers and great companions.
