Yellow Crowned Amazon

The Yellow crowned Amazon is one of 27 sub-species of Amazon parrots known today. Moderately sized they grow to about 14 inches from tip to tail and are absolutely gorgeous. Their feathers are primarily green with a bright yellow cap or stripe on their forehead. They have a yellowish-green underbelly and a bright red on the inside edge of its wing. The tail is also yellow-green underneath with a red spot at the base of each feather.

The eyes of the Yellow Crowned Amazon, also known as the Yellow-Fronted or the Yellow-Naped Amazon, are orange surrounded by a white ring of skin. Their beak is light gray. Juveniles are known to be slightly paler in color without the red coloring.

This particular species is generally well behaved and considered to be kid-friendly. They are a great addition to any household. Highly intelligent and talkative, the Yellow Crowned Amazon can live up to 50 years provided he is cared for with proper nutrition and exercise.

What is proper nutrition for a Yellow Crowned Amazon? An organic pellet based diet supplemented with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables each day will help to keep them happy and healthy.

While they're generally considered healthy and hearty birds, the Yellow Crowned can be susceptible to internal parasites, intestinal influenza, coccidiosis, respiratory ailments, and psittacosis. Proper care and attention, and regular trips to the avian veterinarian, will help keep the Yellow Fronted free from illness. In addition, keeping their cage clean is essential to prevent any infection.

Because this species lives in the wild with large flocks, they are quite social in behavior and playful as well. They love attention, and are very entertaining. If trained properly, you can virtually dissipate their sometimes irritable moods and become quite the jokesters. Training, here is the key. The Yellow Crowneded Amazon is a wonderful, and occasionally challenging parrot. Owners who want a successful and amicable relationship with their Yellow Crowned will take time every day to focus on training.

Training provides a Yellow Crowned Amazon an opportunity to tap into their problem solving skills - yes, even parrots have problem solving skills and you'll be amazed at your Amazon's intelligence. They can learn a wide number of tricks. However, more important than teaching them tricks, training helps build a strong bond of trust between owners and parrots. Trust is essential to prevent any behavior problems as a majority of behavior problems stem from fear. Training also helps to establish roles in the family and a structure of behavior. Because Yellow Crowned Amazons are so intelligent and social, training is an absolute must for an amicable and lasting relationship.

Although there are sub-species of Amazons who are more talkative than others, you can be sure that the Yellow Fronted Amazon will talk and screech with the best of them. They learn to speak from the age of three months and the frequency with which they pick up new words and sounds is very unique. Many trainers and bird experts recommend training the Yellow Fronted with both verbal cues and physical or hand cues.