Two for One

I missed last week - just too busy.  I took a bird picture in the parking lot of the grocery store and that's it.  I guess it's another type of sparrow or black bird (no time to hunt down the info)- just the ordinary bird that hangs out near a food store waiting for crumbs.   Why am I more willing to leave something for these feathered friends more than my human beggars?  I guess because they seem to appreciate it more.

Now onto my bird picture for this week...  this friendly fellow is named Paco and like a previous bird I photographed with one leg, Paco has one wing.  But one missing limb doesn't stop him.  He tried to bite me when I took his picture.  I think I have been having sympathy pains as my shoulder has been achy all week - Ha,Ha.  Paco joined us for book club this month and contributed his 2 cents.  We read the Memory Keeper's Daughter and he helped us every time we would forget what happened.  We had a lively discussion and lots of yummy southern food, including Paco's favorite - chicken.

Facts about this animal

This is a large amazon with a total lenght of 35-38 cm and a body-weight of up to 500g.

The plumage of the nominate subspecies is yellow on the entire head and throat, the upper parts are green, the under parts yellowish-green too, and the tighs yellow. The flight feathers are green becoming violet-blue towards the tips. The carpal edge is yellow, the bend of wing red with some yellow, and there is a red speculum. The tail is green with the lateral rectricess basally marked with red and outermost feathers edged with blue. The iris is orange, cere and base of bill grey, in particular in younger birds, or horn-coloured, tip of bill horn coloured, the bare eye-ring is whitish, and the legs and feet are pale grey.

Juveniles have yellow only on crown to lores. Their iris is brown.

Outside the breeding season, yellow-headed amazons have communal roosts and may congregate in large flocks, in which pairs are evident. During the day, they are seen in small parties of up to ten birds, foraging quietly in the crowns of trees.

Yellow-headed amazons begin exploring nest sites in March. Like all amazons, they are cavity nesters, and may start chewing out a hole in a tree trunk that had been previously nested by a woodpecker. The clutch of two to four eggs is incubated for 25–26 days by the female alone. The male remains near the nest entrance and feeds the sitting female.

Yellow-headed amazons feed regularly on the large green nut that is produced in abundance by the Ebano tree, and the small, not very sweet fruit of the Strangler Fig tree, as well as other nuts, seeds, fruits, buds and flowers. They are also fond of maize and cultivated fruit.