Amazon Parrot

From Conservapedia

Amazon Parrot

Yellow-headed Amazon parrot Amazona oratrix
Scientific classification
Kingdom Information
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Subkingdom	Bilateria
Branch	Deuterostomia
Phylum Information
Phylum	Chordata
Sub-phylum	Vertebrata
Infraphylum	Gnathostomata
Class Information
Superclass	Tetrapoda
Class	Aves
Sub-class	Neornithes
Infra-class	Neoaves
Order Information
Superorder	Psittacimorphae
Order	Psittaciformes
Family Information
Family	Psittacidae
Sub-family	Psittacinae
Tribe Information
Tribe	Arini
Genus Information
Genus	Amazona
Population statistics

Amazon parrots are a genus of raucous birds within the order Psittaciformes, consisting of about 32 species found in the tropical regions of Central and South America. Nearly all are kept as cage birds, with several species vying with the African gray parrot as masters of the imitation of human speech and many other sounds. It is primarily due to the pet trade that several species are threatened with extinction.^[1]

1 Description
- 1.1 Phylogeny
2 References
3 External links

Description[edit]

Amazon parrots are medium-sized birds with short, blunt tails, unlike their macaw and conure relatives. Green is the predominant color, however, individual species are normally identified by a specific color characteristic, i.e. the patch of yellow on the yellow-headed amazon, or the patches of blue and red on the festive amazon.

Amazons have an upright stance when perched; when not flying they move about in the trees using their hooked beak as a climbing aid. On the ground they walk with a rolling gait. Both feet are zygodactyl, i.e. two toes in front, two toes behind, a trait shared with owls and woodpeckers. Amazons further use one foot as a "hand" to hold and bring food to its mouth.

Amazon plumage, as well as that of other parrots, is also unique in that the brilliant colors are not the result of diet; they are made directly within the feathers by a set of five pigments, or psittacofulvins, a trait found in no other bird species.^[2]