Editing Amazon parrot (section)

== Behavior ==
===Breeding===
The exact breeding age of wild birds is not precisely known. For captive-bred birds, the average breeding age is around four years, with some larger groups like yellow-crowned amazons requiring six years. Captive birds as old as 30 years have laid eggs.<ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://journals.tdl.org/watchbird/index.php/watchbird/article/view/902|title = Common Breeding Problems in Amazon Parrots|journal = Afa Watchbird|year = 1995|volume = 22|issue = 3|pages = 30–31|last1 = Jordan|first1 = Rick|access-date = 2021-07-16|archive-date = 2021-07-16|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210716014856/https://journals.tdl.org/watchbird/index.php/watchbird/article/view/902|url-status = live}}</ref> Amazon parrots average 5 weeks for nest initiation, with most successful nestings averaging 2.2 [[Fledgling (birds)|fledglings]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5bfa/cb286dd5d41fbe304804126d6edc2dff963f.pdf|s2cid=3948646|doi=10.5751/ACE-01071-120206|title=Reproductive parameters of the Turquoise-fronted Parrot (Amazona aestiva) in the dry Chaco forest|year=2017|last1=Berkunsky|first1=Igor|last2=Segura|first2=Luciano N.|last3=Ruggera|first3=Román A.|last4=Faegre|first4=Sarah I. K.|last5=Trofino-Falasco|first5=Clara|last6=López|first6=Fernando G.|last7=Velasco|first7=Melina A.|last8=Kacoliris|first8=Federico P.|last9=Aramburú|first9=Rosana M.|last10=Reboreda|first10=Juan C.|journal=Avian Conservation and Ecology|volume=12|issue=2|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716014810/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5bfa/cb286dd5d41fbe304804126d6edc2dff963f.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Amazon parrots mostly breed during late winter and spring, as they are [[seasonal breeder]]s.<ref name="mitchell">{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Mark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMTUKwzPEvwC&pg=PA255|title=Manual of Exotic Pet Practice|last2=Tully Jr.|first2=Thomas N.|date=4 March 2008|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-1-4160-0119-5|access-date=19 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720061558/https://books.google.com/books?id=JMTUKwzPEvwC&pg=PA255|archive-date=20 July 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|255}} This may happen due to seasonal food availability or a lower chance of flooding, as the period is generally dry. West Indian amazon parrots tend to breed earlier than Mexican amazon parrots, with Mexican amazon parrots having their peak at March to April while West Indian amazon parrots peak in March.<ref name=luescher/>{{rp|16}}

Captive birds are likelier to be less fertile. A variety of hypotheses to explain the phenomenon have been proposed - Low (1995) suggests that this is because amazon parrots have shorter breeding seasons, while Hagen (1994) suggests that this is because male and female parrots may not be ready for breeding at the same times.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.parrotbreeding.com.au/8navG625r2X3gY1/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/HBD-trial-paper-22.1.14.pdf|title=Captive Amazon parrots and their diet: a study on reproductive success|year=2014|last=Gowland|first=Daniel J.|journal=Queanbeyan: Priam Psittaculture Centre Research & Breedinge|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2021-03-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321102912/http://www.parrotbreeding.com.au/8navG625r2X3gY1/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/HBD-trial-paper-22.1.14.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|12}}

===Feeding===
Amazon parrots feed primarily on [[seed]]s, [[Nut (fruit)|nuts]], [[fruit]]s, [[Berry (botany)|berries]], [[bud]]s, [[nectar]], and [[flower]]s, supplemented by leafy matter.<ref name=low>{{cite book|last=Low|first=Rosemary|title=Amazon Parrots: Aviculture, Trade and Conservation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-pFAAAAYAAJ|year=2005|publisher=DONA|isbn=978-0-9531337-4-1|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716115900/https://books.google.com/books?id=S-pFAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|43}} Their beaks enable them to crack nut shells with ease, and they hold their food with a foot.<ref name=gerholdt>{{cite book|last=Gerholdt|first=James E.|title=Amazon Parrots|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55VEsH47G3EC|year=1997|publisher=Abdo & Daughters|isbn=978-1-56239-587-2|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2021-07-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720061641/https://books.google.com/books?id=55VEsH47G3EC|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|18}} In captivity, the birds enjoy vegetables such as squash, boiled potato, peas, beans, and carrots. Mainland amazon parrots forage and then feed their young twice a day (usually one hour after sunrise and one and a half hours before sunset), while West Indian amazon parrots do so 4-5 times. Hypotheses proposed for why this is include the nutritional value of food in the region as well as temperature stress.<ref name=luescher/>{{rp|19}} During the downtime before foraging expeditions in the afternoon, amazon parrots spend their time preening themselves and their mates.<ref>{{cite book|title=Companion Parrot Quarterly, Issue 71|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1NWAAAAYAAJ|year=2007|publisher=PBIC, Incorporated|access-date=2021-07-25|archive-date=2021-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725111845/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1NWAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|22}}

===Communication and sociality===
Amazon parrots mostly communicate vocally.<ref>{{cite book|last=Meehan|first=Cheryl Lynne|title=Environmental enrichment and behavioral development of orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica).|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Bcs2vcstWUC|year=2002|publisher=University of California, Davis|access-date=2021-07-16|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716164256/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Bcs2vcstWUC|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|150}} Species such as [[orange-winged amazon]]s have nine different recorded vocalizations used in different situations. However, patterns of gestural communication have been observed with the birds, thought to be used to avoid predators.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Moura|first1=L. N.|last2=Silva|first2=M. L.|last3=Garotti|first3=M. M. F.|last4=Rodrigues|first4=A. L. F.|last5=Santos|first5=A. C.|last6=Ribeiro|first6=I. F.|title=Gestural communication in a new world parrot|journal=Behavioural Processes|volume=105|year=2014|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2014.03.003|doi=10.1016/j.beproc.2014.03.003|pages=46–48|pmid=24631994|s2cid=37064930|access-date=2021-07-21|archive-date=2021-07-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729154623/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635714000680?via%3Dihub|url-status=live}}</ref> In general, amazon parrots are very social birds in their foraging, roosting, and nesting. Most amazon parrots travel in large groups and have clumped nesting, but the four species in the [[Lesser Antilles]] are less social. Theories for why this is include the lack of predation risk.<ref name=luescher/>{{rp|15}} In captivity, amazon parrots are known for their [[Talking bird|ability to talk]]- learning to communicate by mimicking speech and other sounds of human origin. They also appear to have an affinity for human music and singing.<ref name="lafeber" />

Extensive studies of vocal behavior in wild [[yellow-naped amazon]]s show the presence of vocal dialects,<ref>{{Cite journal|pmc=3232001|year=2012|last1=Wright|first1=T. F.|title=Regional dialects in the contact call of a parrot.|journal=Proc R Soc Lond B|volume=263|issue=1|pages=867–872|doi=10.1098/rspb.1996.0128|pmid=22162899}}</ref> in which the repertoire of calls that parrots vocalize change at discrete geographic boundaries, similar to how humans have different languages or dialects. Dialects are stable over long periods of time<ref>{{Cite journal|pmc=3232001|year=2008|last1=Wright|first1=T. F.|last2=Salinas-Melgoza|first2=A.|last3=Dahlin|first3=C.R.|title=Stability and change in vocal dialects of the yellow-naped amazon.|journal=Animal Behaviour|volume=144|issue=1|pages=207–228|doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.03.025|pmid=22162899}}</ref> and are meaningful to the parrots; they are less responsive to calls that are not their own dialect.<ref>{{Cite journal|pmc=3232001|year=2001|last1=Wright|first1=T. F.|last2=Dorin|first2=M.|title=Pair duets in the yellow-naped amazon (Psittaciformes: Amazona auropalliata): Response to playbacks of different dialects.|journal=Ethology|volume=107|issue=1|pages=111–124|doi=10.1046/j.1439-0310.2001.00632.x|pmid=22162899|bibcode=2001Ethol.107..111W }}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" widths="180" heights="180">
File:Red-lored parrot (Amazona autumnalis salvini) feeding.jpg|''[[Red-lored parrot|A. autumnalis salvini]]'' (red-lored parrot) feeding
File:Cuban Amazon (Amazona leucocephala)4-4c.jpg|''[[Cuban parrot|A. leucocephala]]'' (Cuban parrot) feeding using its foot
File:Amazona auropalliata -captive-8a.jpg|Two captive [[Yellow-naped parrot|''A. auropalliata'']] (Yellow-naped parrots) feeding
File:Red-lored parrots (Amazona autumnalis salvini) in flight.jpg|Two ''[[Red-lored parrot|A. autumnalis salvini]]'' (red-lored parrots) flying together
</gallery>