Yellow-headed amazon

The plumage of the nominate subspecies is yellow on the entire head and throat, the upper parts are green, the under parts yellowish-green too, and the tighs yellow. The flight feathers are green becoming violet-blue towards the tips. The carpal edge is yellow, the bend of wing red with some yellow, and there is a red speculum. The tail is green with the lateral rectricess basally marked with red and outermost feathers edged with blue. The iris is orange, cere and base of bill grey, in particular in younger birds, or horn-coloured, tip of bill horn coloured, the bare eye-ring is whitish, and the legs and feet are pale grey.

Juveniles have yellow only on crown to lores. Their iris is brown.

Outside the breeding season, yellow-headed amazons have communal roosts and may congregate in large flocks, in which pairs are evident. During the day, they are seen in small parties of up to ten birds, foraging quietly in the crowns of trees.

Yellow-headed amazons begin exploring nest sites in March. Like all amazons, they are cavity nesters, and may start chewing out a hole in a tree trunk that had been previously nested by a woodpecker. The clutch of two to four eggs is incubated for 25–26 days by the female alone. The male remains near the nest entrance and feeds the sitting female.

Yellow-headed amazons feed regularly on the large green nut that is produced in abundance by the Ebano tree, and the small, not very sweet fruit of the Strangler Fig tree, as well as other nuts, seeds, fruits, buds and flowers. They are also fond of maize and cultivated fruit.