Yellow Shouldered Amazon Parrots as Pets Australia

The Yellow-shouldered Parrot or Yellow-shouldered Amazon (Amazona barbadensis) of the genus Amazona, is a resident breeder in the arid areas of northern Venezuela and its offshore islands. By day they inhabit dry areas living in and about low thorny bushes, cacti and trees.

They nest in a tree holes and an holes in cliffs laying up 3-4 eggs. They are highly gregarious when not breeding, forming flocks of up to 100 birds.

The call of this species is a rolling cur'r'r'k.

There are probably around a thousand Yellow-shouldered Parrots in existence. They feed on fruits, seeds, and cactus flowers.

The threats to this parrot are the cagebird trade and habitat degradation due to overgrazing by goats.
Apearance
Yellow-shouldered Amazons are green, about 33 cm long, with yellow patches on the head and shoulders, and a red patch on the wing. The yellow shoulder patch and extensive yellow on the head distinguish it from other Amazona species which have red on the shoulder and restricted yellow on the head.  They have failed foreheads and white eye rings. Both the primary and secondary flight feathers are green and blue tipped whilst the tail feathers are similar green with tips of yellowish green. They have a fawn coloured beak

Yellow-shouldered Amazons Parrots As Pets
They are very rarely seen as pets likely because of their scarcity but also because of the difficulty pet owners have replicating the dry conditions of Venezuela where they are native to. They are not great talkers there are however clever, curious and fun loving. Only hand raised specimens should be considered as a pet, partly because wild specimens are unlikely to be domesticated and will be aggressive, but also because the numbers in the wild are so small these wild populations need to be protected that usual habitats under threat from overgrazing have seen a huge drop in the numbers in recent years.

It's likely if you can obtain one at all it will be male to the males do tend to be more of a handful with high levels of aggression than females. They are an active parrot by nature likely because of the distance they had to cover defined food in the wild.

Intelligent and inquisitive they require toys that make noise and that they can chew on. If you decide to give your bird free flying time in your house only do so when you're around to ensure that is not true things like power cords or anything toxic. Of course always ensure your windows are closed on the bird is out. Try to ensure young birds socialise with more than one human would become possessive and aggressive towards strangers.

Feeding
It is unlikely you will be offered duplicate much in the way of their native diet over your pet shop should be on to supply a formulated feed designed the Amazonian parrots which will contain much of what they need to their health and vitality. Assuming you are able to source such a formulated feed you will not need to give them additional by supplements

Ensure you supplement this with fresh fruit and vegetables – and mix these up - there are a bird used to a wide variety of food and different foods in any case can help stop them getting bored.

It is most important that you spend time hand feeding your yellow shouldered banners on this is an important part of the process of bonding with your bird.

Amazons should be fed a formulated (pelleted or extruded) diet as a basis for good nutrition. The diet should be supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables daily to add variety and psychological enrichment. Feed approximately 1/4 cup of formulated diet and 1/4 cup of fresh fruits and vegetables daily. Monitor food intake. Overfeeding leads to pickiness, selective feeding and wasteful throwing of food. Because of their tendency to obesity, yellow-shouldered Amazons should be offered seeds or nuts by hand as treats for bonding. Vitamin supplements are not needed for birds eating a formulated diet.

Grooming and feather care
all parrots require bathing in order to maintain healthy feathers and skin you can list your Amazonian yellow shouldered parrot every few days to simulate what they would do normally in the wild. They should be left to dry in a warm room or you can try them with a blow drier on low though not every individual will permit this. Do not let them stay wet and get cold.

Assuming your parrot is to be allowed out of its cage in your home is wise to fit their wing feathers to ensure that fly into Windows. They are blessed with generously large sized wing feathers to their weight there will need to be clipped short and most Amazona is however be careful not to trim excessively as they are prone to falling whilst climbing and will require at least some ability to glide to the ground. Be sure to trim each wing evenly for your parrot will simply spiral and crashed to the ground.

Housing
In the wild at the yellow shouldered Amazonian is a very active birds covering a lot of territory to find food as they should be kept in the largest possible enclosure that money and space will allow. Ideally the cage will have a flight. Being a small/medium-sized parrot the cage steel will not need to be as robust as is needed for large parrots cockatoos and macaws it would be wise to inspect that there is no way to your bird to open the door itself and escape.

All parrots require an amount of time each day in the sun to maintain their bone health and yellow shouldered Amazonian is no exception. Of course – this is not mean you should be left out in the sun all day wear will overheat it needs the other move freely in and out a shaded of its cage to a sunlit area.

Breeding
They're not easy birds breed in captivity and those that do breed them – it is not easy to get to share their breeding tips. That said they breed predominantly in the spring land clutches of 3 to 4 eggs. During breeding males tend to become more aggressive, formerly placid easily handled mail I suddenly start biting its keeper. Even more worrying, the male may be aggressive towards the female if he sees you handling her as he seeks to reassert to her that he is the dominant bird. Some breeders combat this by more vigorously trimming the flight feathers of the males to ensure the female is more mobile and able to escape badly behaving males.

A wooden nesting box of approximately 25 cm x 25 cm x 75 cm is ideal. Remember you are trying to simulate a hole in a tree – the nesting box should have a small entry only.

As with all Amazonian Parrots, breeding tends to be a long, noisy affair so if your neighbors are precious about their peace and quiet make sure your cage is placed as far away from the complaining once and you as possible to the elderly deaf ones.