Yellow-crowned Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala) [XC611005]
by Luis Lozano from El Valle de Ant\u00f3n, Cocl\u00e9 Province, Panama (aberrant, call, caged bird)
Yellow-crowned Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala) [XC237957]
by Oscar Humberto Mar\u00edn G\u00f3mez from Orellana: A\u00f1angu, s-bank R\u00edo Napo, Ecuador (call, calls)
Subspecies
Polytypic and, in Central America, apparently polymorphic. Often broken down into three species: Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix), incorporating tresmariae and belizensis; Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata), incorporating caribaea and parvipes; and Yellow-crowned Parrot (Amazona ochrocephala) incorporating panamensis, xantholaema and nattereri. However, considerable variation and overlap in characters exist in populations in and adjacent to Honduras, such that no very coherent species limits can be set at any point between oratrix to the northern and panamensis to the south. Possibly the clearest-cut step would involve separating oratrix and tresmariae, thus transferring belizensis to the ochrocephala group. On present knowledge, entire complex is probably best regarded as a single species. Patterns of variation remain unclear and birds of extreme eastern Guatemala may be separable as subspecies guatemalensis and those of north-western Honduras as hondurensis. Both of these forms appear closer to oratrix group than to auropalliata group.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
tresmariae Nelson, 1900 - Tres Marias Is, off west-central Mexico. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix).
oratrix Ridgway, 1887 - Pacific and Atlantic lowlands of Mexico. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix).
belizensis Monroe and Howell, 1966 - Belize. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix).
caribaea Lousada, 1989 - Bay Is, Honduras. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata).
parvipes Monroe and Howell, 1966 - North-eastern Honduras and northern Nicaragua. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata).
auropalliata (Lesson, 1842) - Southern Mexico south to north-western Costa Rica. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata).
panamensis (Cabanis, 1874) - Western Panama to north-western Colombia.
ochrocephala (Gmelin, 1788) - Eastern Colombia east through Venezuela, Trinidad and the Guianas to north-central Brazil (Pará).
xantholaema von Berlepsch, 1913 - Marajó I, Amazon Delta, northern Brazil.
nattereri (Finsch, 1865) - Southern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru to northern Bolivia and western Brazil.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet