Yellow Naped Amazon Parrot:

The 411 On The Yellow Naped Amazon

The Yellow Naped Amazon, also known as the Golden Yellow Naped Amazon, is almost perfect.  Found along the Pacific coast from Mexico to Costa Rica, including Guatemala and El Salvador, this bird is among the top three talkers.

On top of having excellent verbal skills and the ability to learn new words quickly and easily, they speak very clearly.  The Yellow Naped Amazon is a loving and affectionate bird. What makes them practically perfect?  The Yellow Naped does make some noise in the morning and evening, so they’re not a silent bird and during breeding season they can become a little aggressive. Aggression can be dealt with by training and learning your bird’s body language.  In short, knowing when your Yellow Naped is feeling a bit frustrated and understanding their physical cues will prevent any potential altercations.

Enough of the Yellow Naped Amazon’s potential shortcomings!  Let’s get back to why they’re almost perfect. The Yellow Naped has been described as “little people.”  This is due both to their ability to speak but also intelligence and affection.

They’re also lovely little birds.  We’ll not so little.  They’re generally about 14 inches from head to tail.  They’re covered head to toe in green feathers, though their underparts and the underside of their tail are generally a lighter or yellowish green. 

Where does the “Yellow Naped” part of their name come from?  They have a bright yellow patch at the nape of their neck, which develops after their one year birthday. 

Some Yellow Naped Amazons also have a smaller yellow spot on their foreheads.  They can have a small black patch of ‘hair’ above their black and gray beak.  Their eyes are orange and their feet are gray.

Due to deforestation and their popularity in the pet trade, the Yellow Naped Amazon is on the endangered species list.  It is illegal to import them.  However, they are readily available from breeders and generally cost around $800-$1500. 

Yellow Naped Amazons generally breed from during the early spring months of April and May.  The female lays 3 or 4 eggs, which hatch around 28 days later.  The chicks are independent around 8-12 weeks.  Yellow Naped Amazons mate for life and the male does an excellent job of taking care of his hen and chicks by feeding them. 

In the wild they are social birds who live in groups ranging from a couple birds to a couple hundred birds.  In captivity they are just as social with their human counterparts and easily acclimate or adjust to their environment. They enjoy, and need, to spend a significant amount of time out of their cages and interacting with the family. 

When you’re not around, they can be kept busy and engaged with a variety of toys in their cage.  Good toys include chewing toys, toys to climb on and toys that engage their reasoning and puzzle solving abilities.  You’ll be surprised at how smart these birds really are!

Like most Amazon parrots, the Yellow Naped has a tendency to become overweight.  If kept on a healthy diet of pellets, fruits and veggies, and not allowed to gorge on nuts and seeds, obesity shouldn’t be an issue.  While they’re generally extremely hardy, they are susceptible to vitamin-A and calcium deficiencies as well as psittacosis and pox-virus infections. 

There’s a reason the Yellow Naped Amazon parrot has been one of the most popular companion birds for more than 100 years.  They’re intelligent, fairly quiet, excellent talkers, easy to train, loyal, affectionate, pretty, and extremely hardy birds.  They’re practically perfect!