The Yellow-naped Parrot or Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata) is an Amazon parrot

Amazon parrot

Amazon parrot is the common name for a parrot of the genus Amazona. These are medium-size parrots native to the New World ranging from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean....

 sometimes considered to be a subspecies of Yellow-crowned Amazon

Yellow-crowned Amazon

The Yellow-crowned Amazon or Yellow-crowned Parrot , is a species of parrot, native to the tropical South America and Panama. The taxonomy is highly complex, and the Yellow-headed and Yellow-naped Amazon are sometimes considered subspecies of the Yellow-crowned Amazon...

, Amazona ochrocephala (Gmelin

Johann Friedrich Gmelin

Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist and malacologist.- Education :Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen...

, 1788).

Deforestation

Deforestation

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....

 is reducing the number of these parrots in the wild together with illegal removal of young for the pet trade. This parrot readily mimics sounds, and in captivity this includes human speech, which is probably the reason it is popular in the pet

Pet

A pet is a household animal kept for companionship and a person's enjoyment, as opposed to wild animals or to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for economic or productive reasons. The most popular pets are noted for their loyal or playful...

 trade. Like all parrots, however, mimic abilities vary greatly between individuals and species.

Description

The Yellow-naped Parrot is distinguished by its green forehead and crown and a yellow band across the lower nape

Nape

The nape is the back of the neck. In technical anatomical/medical terminology, the nape is referred to by the word nucha, which also gives the adjective corresponding to "nape" in English, "nuchal"....

(back part of neck) and hindneck. The beak is dark grey and is paler towards the base of the upper mandible

Mandible

The mandible pronunciation or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place...

. The feet are also dark grey.

Taxonomy

Three subspecies are recognized:

• Amazona a. auropalliata: Southern Mexico to north-western Costa Rica
  Costa Rica
  Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
  
  .
• Amazona a. parvipes: Mosquito Coast
  Mosquito Coast
  The Caribbean Mosquito Coast historically consisted of an area along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, and part of the Western Caribbean Zone. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British interests...
  
   in eastern Honduras and north-eastern Nicaragua
  Nicaragua
  Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
  
  .
• Amazona a. caribaea: Bay Islands, Honduras.

Range and habitat

It is found along the Pacific coast from southern Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 south to northern Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

.

In common with many parrot species, it feeds on nut

Nut (fruit)

A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...

s, berries

Berry

The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....

, seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

s, and fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

.

In captivity

Yellow-naped Amazons are highly sought after for their talking ability and playful personalities. They are also known for nest-protective behaviors that often lead them to bite. This is particularly common in, but not limited to, males during breeding season.
A rare blue mutation of the Yellow-naped Amazon is known to exist, in which the entire body is turquoise in color.http://www.hillcountryaviaries.com/color_mutations.htm