Green-Cheeked Amazon
2 Photo Gallery
1 Green-Cheeked Amazon Breed Overview
The Green-Cheeked Amazon is now endangered due to habitat destruction and illegal trapping by humans, and is currently listed under CITES Appendix I as a protected species.
The Green-Cheeked Amazon prefers to live in riverside woodlands, forest edges, hilly areas, and farmland, and is one of the endangered Amazon parrots, with only about 3,000 to 6,500 individuals remaining in the wild. It is distributed in northeastern Mexico.
Chinese Name: Green-Cheeked Amazon
English Name: Green-Cheeked Amazon
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Subclass: Neornithes
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Distribution: Most populations inhabit northeastern Mexico, and some may migrate to southern Texas in the United States during winter.
2 Physical Characteristics of the Green-Cheeked Amazon
The ideal body length of an adult Green-Cheeked Amazon is about 33 cm, and most Amazon parrots are green in color. They not only look very similar but also have nearly identical habits.
The Green-Cheeked Amazon has orange irises. Yellow is distributed on the crown, between the eye and beak, and on the thighs, and is occasionally visible around the eyes. The yellow on the top of the head is also called the ‘cap.’ There are slight red markings at the bend of the wing, and the feather edges are yellow-green. The primaries are violet-blue, and the secondaries are violet-blue on the feather vanes and wingtips. The body is green, ranging from deep blue-green to yellowish-green, and the head feather colors vary, helping to identify the variety.
3 Green-Cheeked Amazon Living Environment
In the wild, the Green-Cheeked Amazon likes to live in areas near rivers, in dry or semi-arid tropical regions. It occasionally gathers with other parrots, active in pairs or flocks; remarkably, gatherings of over a hundred have been recorded.
Captive-bred Green-Cheeked Amazons adapt quickly to new environments, may be noisy in the early morning and evening, and become very robust once acclimated; under CITES they are listed as an Appendix I protected parrot.
The Green-Cheeked Amazon loves water and bathing. Spraying them with a water bottle several times a week improves the bird’s feathers and odor. You can train your Amazon to walk under a showerhead to bathe on its own, even without the owner present. Amazons naturally emit a musky scent. During seasonal changes, pay attention to the temperature difference between morning and evening in the bird’s environment.
4 Green-Cheeked Amazon Care Tips
The Green-Cheeked Amazon usually breeds between March and July each year; captively kept birds need fresh branches provided in the aviary for chewing. In the wild they nest in tree hollows in dead wood and also in abandoned woodpecker holes.
The Green-Cheeked Amazon is less lively and active than the Yellow-headed or Blue-fronted Amazon. It can be aggressive toward its owner during breeding and noisier during courtship. Being rather shy by nature, it should be disturbed as little as possible during breeding; it may appear nervous and uneasy when the owner inspects the nest box. Clutch size is usually 2 to 3 eggs, incubation about 28 to 30 days, and the young fledge in about two months.