Red-lored amazon

Facts

IUCN LEAST CONCERN (LC)

Facts about this animal

This is a fairly large amazon with a total lenght of 34 cm and a body-weight of around 420g.

The plumage is mostly green, paler below, and with the lower half of the outer tail feathers pale yellow-green. There are usually some yellow feathers on the face, crown and hindneck are pale blue scaled with black, and there is some black scaling on the chest. The outer webs of the primary wing feathers are blue, and there is a red speculum on the wing. Lores and forehead are distinctively red.

The iris is orange, brownish in immature birds, cere and bas of bill yellowish-horn, tip of bill grey, the bare eye-ring is pale yellow, and the legs and feet are dull grey.

Outside the breeding season, red-lored amazons have communal roosts and travel in pairs, groups or large flocks, in which pairs are evident, foraging mostly in the crowns of large trees.

The nest is an unlined hollow in a tall, usually dead tree. The clutch consists usually of 3 to 4 eggs.

Red-lored amazons feed on figs, seeds, leaf buds, and some cultivated fruits such as mangoes or citrus.

Did you know?
that there are four subspecies of the red-lored amazon? The nominata A, a. autumnalis from Mexico and Nicaragua, and the Bay Islands of Honduras, A, a. salvini from Nicaragua down to W Colombia and NW Venezuela, A, a. lilacina from Ecuador, and the ndiademed amazon, A, a. diadema, from NW Brazil.

Factsheet
Class	AVES
Order	PSITTACIFORMES
Suborder	PSITTACI
Family	PSITTACIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Amazona autumnalis
Name (English)	Red-lored amazon
Name (French)	Amazone diadème
Name (German)	Rotstirnamazone
Name (Spanish)	Amazona frentirroja
Local names	Brasil: Papagaio-diadema Costa Rica: Lora
CITES Status	Appendix II
CMS Status	Not listed

Photo Copyright by
Frank Wouters

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Central and northern South America: Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela
Habitat	Subtropical/topical dry and moist lowland forests, including degraded former forests
Wild population	No global figures available, but population believed to be large
Zoo population	192 reported to ISIS (2008)

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 11D of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
Geoff Sloan

Why do zoos keep this animal

Amazons are conspicuous and attractive birds, which are good ambassador species for the conservation of neotropical forests. They have an interesting anatomy and behaviour, are intelligent birds able to mimic human speech and even to associate words with their meanings, and are thus also of educational interest. Zoos may keep amazon parrots also for animal welfare reasons as they may have to take care of confiscated birds, or former pet birds.

How this animal should be kept

Parrots must not be kept chained and must not be pinioned. If feather clipped, they should have available an area corresponding at least to that of an aviary for this species, and there must be ample climbing opportunities.

An aviary for a pair must have a surface of no less than 3 x 2 m and a height of at least 2 m. In cold and temperate climates a frost free shelter or indoor aviary of at least 2 m² x 2 m high is necessary.

A variety of branches for perching, climbing and chewing is necessary to keep these intelligent birds busy.

Parrots may select food items on the basis of colour and texture rather than on taste or nutrient content. Therefore it is important to provide a variety of nutritionally valuable and, at the same time, interesting food. Pellets provide an ideal diet only in combination with other favourable and nutritionally suitable feeds, e.g. a mixture of apple, carrots soaked corn and vitamin/mineral supplement, soaked sunflower seeds, fruit (e.g. grapes, banana, pear, plum, orange, mango), vegetables (e.g. sweet pepper, chicory, courgette), nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts), and dog pellets.